City of Smashers
by EggplantWitch
Summary: Smash City is a wealthy place, and at its centre is the magnificent Palace, home to the Four Thrones. Dozens of of heroes will help to protect it...but from what?
1. Marth and Ike

**First ever published SSBB fanfic! Oh joy. I'm pretty sure that this is a pretty original idea. You ain't gonna find an****y ToDs or mansions here, I guarantee. Anyway, this is my first and I need to be told how I can stop being so bad, so any reviews would be appreciated. With that in mind, sit back and enjoy the show. (EDIT: This is the 2****nd**** version. That's right; I listen to your reviews).**

There's a city way out in the middle of a desert, which in itself seems to be in the middle of nowhere. Despite this obvious geological problem, it's a thriving city. Houses and skyscrapers are lain around in an orderly kind of fashion. Crime is rarely a problem, since most of the people that live there carry a sword. In the centre of the city is the Palace. It towers above the highest skyscraper, glinting in the sun. Inside are four thrones. Only two are filled. At this moment of time, anyway. Someone, or something, snapped their fingers…

Marth wondered what would happen if he opened his eyes. He could tell that there was some kind of bright light since it was shining through his eyes. He couldn't heat anything. But he could feel…he yelped and leapt to his feet as he felt something hot burning at his arm. He looked around. He was in the middle of some No Man's Land. There was nothing but dry, dusty rock for miles and miles. A desert. There weren't many deserts in Altea. Or any at all. He thought for a moment. The last thing he could remember was the ground trembling and shaking, and then blackness, and then…well, here he was.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice echoing slightly against the vast emptiness.

"Who's that?" to Marth's delight, another voice called back.

"Prince Marth of Altea," he replied.

"Oh, Martha. Glad it's you," Ike appeared from beneath the bank.

"Where is this place?"

"Screwed if I knew. What a dump. What happened? Or should I not even _try_ to ask you?"

"All I can remember is the ground trembling and then…here we are,"

"Same here. But come on. If we're going to rot in some hole then we need to at least try to get out of here first," he started to walk away. Marth, not wanting to be left on his own, ran after. "If it were dark we could use the stars as a map or something…"

"Can you read them?"

"No. Can you?"

"No,"

"Then we'll just have to walk…thatta way and hope for the best," Ike randomly chose a direction and walked in it. Marth had no choice but to follow. He felt worried, but continued walking anyway. He'd never been in a situation like this before, ever. He'd been in some tight and unpleasant spots before, but never something like this. He was pretty sure Ike had no idea what he was doing, but that made two of them.

X

They walked all day, ignoring their hunger and thirst until they simply had to stop to rest.

"I don't know if we'll make it out of here alive…" Marth said, pushing his hair up and running his hands through it, a sign that he was worried (usually he never messed his hair up. He was very careful and proud of it).

"Nor do I. But hey, we have to try, right?" Ike said. Marth smiled in an uncertain fashion.

"I doubt that either of us would go down without a fight,"  
"I know I wouldn't. Hey, if we're still stuck out here in two days, can I eat you?"

"Wh-what?"

"I'm kidding,"

"This is hardly a time for kidding…"

"I'm trying to be light-hearted here, Martha," Marth sighed. If he'd been back at home in Altea he'd probably be sitting in his room, reading a book. That poetry book he'd left on the bedside table, probably. Or maybe that one that was in Latin, or maybe even something like th-

"So you're the idiots that I have to guide, huh? Shouldn't be too hard," an unfamiliar voice made them _both_ jump as a shining light appeared.

"Am I seeing things?" Ike said, looking to Marth.

"Not unless I am too," the prince replied. They both stared as the light dimmed down and revealed…a boy. Young teenager, perhaps. Wearing a white toga, black shorts and a golden laurel. And, more importantly, the two perfect white wings arching out of his back.

"Hullo," he said. "Don't ask if I'm an illusion or whatever, 'cause I'm not,"

"Then what exactly _are_ you?" Marth said. The angel looked offended.

"I'm an Angel, of course. The Angeleican kind. Angel Angel, all that. What else could I be?"

"I dunno, maybe a banshee or - you lost me at 'an'," Ike said.

"Look, think of me as your guardian Angel,"

"Angels? Pff,"

"I'm here to help you, you know,"

"Yeah? Who says we need your help?"

"Death. Guy in the robe, skeleton, scythe, TALKS LIKE THIS. Also Paluntena," he said with a touch of pride. "Special request of hers,"

"Say again?" Marth frowned.

"Look, I'm an Angel and I'm here to help you so you don't die out here. I'm the kind you only get one of," he said with a twinkle.

"Yeah? Got a name?" Ike tossed his head.

"My name is Captain Pit Icari. But I guess you can call me Pit. And I already know that you're Prince Marth and Ike,"

"'Captain'?"

"Captain of Paluntena's Army, including the Pegasus cavalry and the manticore. Though I wish I wasn't. For the manticore bit, anyway,"

"Sorry kid if you don't understand this, but we're two hungry, thirsty guys who've been walking through a wasteland all day, and then this kid with wings turns up telling us he's the guardian angel and he's the captain of an army,"

"That's Angel with a capital and Captain with a capital too. And yes, I am. Want proof?" he reached into a pocket (in a toga?) and pulled out two bottles, which no way would've been able to fit, but that was the space-warping for you. "See if this water tastes like an illusion," the two of them took the bottles. They felt real. And the relief their parched mouths got was definitely real.

"Alright, Pit. I reckon we believe you. Why a kid, though?"

"Why not?" Ike had met a dead end in what to say, so he didn't say anything. "But I'm not just a Captain, though. I work for _all_ the Gods,"

"Whoa whoa whoa…Gods?"

"I serve Paluntena, Goddess of Light and Wisdom. The mightiest Goddess,"

"Oh, I get it," Ike smirked. "Well then, bird-boy, how are you going to help us?"

"You're going to follow me,"

"And where will you take us?" Marth asked.

"Does the name Smash City mean anything to you?" Pit flapped his wings on 'Smash City' though perhaps it was more of a flutter.

"No,"

"It has a Palace which you'll both be booked into," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Take us there,"

"Try to keep up, in that case," he was about to ready himself when Ike cut across.

"Keep up? With a kid?" he sniggered. Pit gave him a cocky smile.

"You'll see just how hard it is. Good job I show up well in twilight. As I said, try to keep up," the he spread his wings, and was away. He flew upwards, but when he got high up enough he was off like a rocket. The two bluenettes ran. Pit had been right; they really did have to try to keep up. He was _fast_.

X

"Marth! Look!" Ike stopped as the spires loomed into sight. There it was. Turrets and spires and walls. The air around it seemed to be a wonderful shade of peach pink. And all around that Palace, a city. Smash City. The two of them looked at it in awe.

"What's the hold up?" Pit landed gently next to them.

"It's amazing…" Marth said.

"You like it? You should see Paluntena's Palace. Now _that's _amazing. But y'know, standing here and looking at it isn't going to help us get there. When you do get there you'll be treated like the people you are,"

"A prince?"

"No. A hero," he twinkled again and leapt into the air. "Keep up!" he called down as he disappeared upwards. Ike grinned at Marth, and the two of them ran on, a burst of speed inspired by hope. As the magnificent city got closer, the hearts soared higher and higher until they were higher up in the clouds than Pit was. Now he was closer, he wasn't just flying in a straight line. He flew upside down, did barrel rolls, dived down and soared up, making the best of what he could. If they tried, they could hear his whoops of joy. He regained a sense of maturity and flew back down again when they reached the suburbs.

"We're going through a secret route, so try not to be seen," he warned them. "And don't wander off. You have more than enough time to explore later on." They trusted the Angel and continued to follow him as he walked through alleys until they came to a door in the wall. He opened it and walked in, followed once again by Ike and Marth. Everything went a funny colour for a moment. "And here we are," the two of them looked around. They were in a huge hall with a giant sparkling chandelier, carpet-rich staircases leading up to an upper floor. That is more like it, Marth thought. He brushed off his tunic and tried to look presentable.

"Like it?" Pit asked both of them.

"Are we really staying here? What exactly is happening?" Marth demanded.

"Yes, you're really staying here. I think you'll meet the other royals soon. I had to fetch them first, on account of being royal. Princesses Zelda and Peach of Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom respectively," he said, sounding like he was quoting something. "I guess I had better take you through to meet them." He beckoned them through the big doors. The only kind of room which needed doors like that was a throne room.

X 

The room which Pit took them too was also huge, perhaps a little smaller than the Main Hall which they had entered in. There were four thrones there for four rulers, presumably, but none of them were occupied. However, there were two young women waiting.

"Pit? You found them," the brunette one said. She had a soft, calm voice and an elegant posture.

"I did. These are Prince Marth and Ike," he indicated to them in turn. "And Marth and Ike, this is Princess Zelda of Hyrule," he fluttered his wings for a moment, and then added "…and that's Princess Peach. From the Mushroom Kingdom," Marth had done this thing several times before. He bowed to Zelda and kissed her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you," he said. Ike just rolled his eyes.

"And a pleasure to meet you too. But we are of equal status here," Zelda said as Marth rose. Peach didn't seem particularly annoyed that she was missing out on the action, as she was cooing at Pit, who was trying to make a getaway. Zelda and Marth ignored them.

"Zelda, would you care to explain why I appeared in the middle of a desert, and also what exactly is happening?"

"This is the Palace at the heart of Smash City. It was because of the Hands that you appeared in this desert and what is happening…" she smiled. "Is that the heroes are being brung together. In preparation for something which is yet unknown…only the Hands know,"

"Hands?"

"Master Hand and Crazy Hand. They say that they were created by the Goddess of Unity and the God of Chaos respectively. Crazy Hand is, as his name suggests, eccentric but on the most part harmless, and Master Hand is…not the ruler of Smash City. More of…its protector. The city operates on its own, Marth. It does not need a ruler as much as, say, the place which you hail from. But we are its rulers none-the-less," she waited patiently for Marth to process this. "And Pit is in charge of bringing all these heroes here,"

"That Angel child? How important is he?"

"More important than he thinks. His Goddess was right to send him. He works hard, he's loyal, cheerful and a very good messenger. As I said, he is the shepherd for the sheep of our heroes,"

"How many other 'heroes' are here?"

"There's me, Peach, Ike, Pit, you and Link. Plus Navi, but she's the guide, not the hero,"

"And you're – we're – expecting more?"

"Many more. More than thirty. This Palace is more than big enough to hold them until we find somewhere else for them to live. But you are going to stay here,"

"What about the kingdoms that we're from?"

"They'll be kept safe, I presume. I would not worry, if I were you." Not yet, at least, she added to herself. She turned to face one of the patient servants. "Please show Prince Marth and Ike to their room," she instructed. The servant nodded, and indicated for the two to follow him.

**So how was it? Intriguing? Amazing? Absolute rubbish? I don't know. You could always tell me by, I don't know, pressing that little button down there that says 'Review' on it. If I were you I'd carry on reading, it gets better! Promise!**


	2. Roy and Samus

**I don't think there's really gonna be any standard length to these chapters…I just draw a line through the middle of wherever seems OK. I don't do chapters, y'know D: Roy and Samus are up next! Woohoo!**

Marth's room was large and comfy with a wonderful view of the Palace gardens. And also, to his surprise, there were already clothes in the drawers and wardrobes, pieces of his favourite outfits and others too. That made him feel better. He had a change of clothes and then went to find the others. He felt that he needed someone to talk to. He was walking down a corridor when something small and blue whizzed past him, did a U-turn and landed on his shoulder.

"Don't. Say. Anything. Just keep walking," it – or she, as it sounded – instructed. There was a particularly murderous looking servant prowling around, but she straightened up when Marth strode past, his long blue hair hiding the little cyan light. Once he turned the corner, the light spoke again. "Phe-ew, thanks for that," she fluttered off and into the air in front of Marth. She was a small, glowing blue light with dainty wings, about two inches in diameter. "You're either Marth or Ike,"

"Prince Marth," Marth introduced himself. "Who are you? And, er, _what_ are you?"

"I'm Navi. I'm a fairy. You haven't seen a guy in green around, have you? I kinda got lost. And then I sorta upset the servants…yeah, just don't ask,"

"I think Zelda mentioned you. 'The guide',"

"That's me. Link's fairy guide. I think I can count all of his braincells on one hand. I basically do the thinking and talking for him,"

"Talking?"

"He doesn't talk. Closest I've ever heard him say to a word is 'ow'. So, seen him?"

"No. I have yet to meet him. I was looking for him, or someone, at least. I suppose you can accompany me,"

"I suppose I can, can't I?" she fluttered alongside him. "You only got here recently, didn't you?"

"If an hour ago,"

"Sounds about right. Link and I came yesterday. We got here in pretty much the same way as you. Zelda and Peach were already here, I dunno why. You should've seen the look on Link's face when he saw Zelda. Hah!"

"Everything is rather strange, at the moment…"

"It's only gonna get stranger from here onwards, I guarantee, if all the people bird-boy's going on about are actually real. I mean, come on! A pink blob? Humanoid animals? I guess anything's possible,"

"If I was sent to the middle of nowhere and guided to a rich palace by an Angel, then _anything _really is possible,"

"Too right. AHA! THERE YOU ARE!" she whizzed forwards, up to a slightly startled looking guy in green. His ears were pointed, just like Zelda's, but his hair was a dirty-straw-blond colour. "Marth, meet Link. Link, meet Marth,"

"_Prince_ Marth," Marth corrected.

"Yeah yeah, whatever,"

"Oh, hey Martha," Ike appeared. "You met Link?"

"Yes, Ike, I have," Marth replied, a tad icily. "Roughly three seconds ago,"

"So you're Ike? 'Sup. I'm Navi," Navi said to Ike from her perch on Link's shoulder. "The blue thing on Link's shoulder,"

"Oh right," realisation dawned on the swordsman's face. "You're that fairy of Link's here, aren't you?"

"Too right I am,"

"Just wondering. Anyway, Link, how about that duel you promised?" he said with a grin. Link returned the grin and nodded.

"Huh? Duel? Have I missed something important?" if you could see her face, Navi would've frowned.

"I challenged Link here to a duel. Heard he's a good swordsman. I'd like to see if he can beat my skill,"

"Sure he can! What are we waiting for? Let's go already!"

"Yep. Come on, Link!" Ike raced off, followed by Link. Marth caught a snatch of 'Bye Marth!' from Navi, and that was it. Marth scratched his head, before going to see if he could find Zelda or Peach. He hadn't spoken to Peach yet.

X

When he did find Peach, she was with Zelda, and they were talking.

"Yes, Peach, for the hundredth time, I'm sure that your 'Cherub' will be just fine," Zelda said in an exasperated tone.

"I'd simply just _hate_ it if anything happened!" the blonde swooned.

"What's happening?" Marth asked, coming over.

"Peach is fretting over Pit. _Again_. He's just going to find the others, Peach. He's a _warrior_,"

"Yes, but…" while Peach listed reasons, Zelda leaned across to Marth.

"I feel sorry for Pit. Peach calls him 'Cherub' and always seems to forget that he's a warrior, not a child," Marth frowned sympathetically and nodded.

"Yes Peach, he'll be just f-" he started.

"Guys quick!" the 'cherub' in question burst in. "I'm not sure if he's on the list but whoever he is, he's really injured!"

"How injured?" Zelda said, standing up and walking over.

"Blood everywhere…unconscious…burnt…look, just come! Quickly!" he grabbed her wrist and practically dragged her away. Marth and Peach exchanged worried looks, before hurrying after. When they arrived, Zelda was kneeling down by the injured body. Whoever he was, he looked quite young, maybe the same age as Pit (if Pit was as old as he looked, that is). His hair was bright scarlet, and he was as injured as Pit had said. Zelda was healing him using magic, by the looks of it. Marth was interested in this. He'd never seen magic being done before. Sure he knew it existed, but he didn't know anyone who could wield it like that. He could visibly see the wounds disappearing and the colour returning to the boy's face. He couldn't help but notice, however, that there was a huge sword scabbard attached to his belt, and in it, a sword. He had a light bangle identical to Pit's on his wrist…and Pit had only one, whereas he had two before. Maybe it was some kind of magic? Marth wouldn't know. He was a swordsman, not a mage. And definitely not an Angel. They watched and waited as the boy's wounds healed. His breathing returned to normal from the juddering, painful breathes it had been, and he opened his eyes. Everyone looked at him eagerly.

"Ow," he said. "Wait, where am I?"

"You're in the Palace of Smash City," Pit said. "I found you in the desert and brought you here,"

"Yeah…I remember. Bandits," he sat up, and then stood up. "At least, I think it was bandits…"

"And I can't help but notice that you still have your sword," Zelda said, eyeing said sword suspiciously.

"I can't really remember what attacked me. Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Princess Zelda. This is Princess Peach, and Prince Marth. And also Captain Pit,"

"An Angel?" he gave Pit a lopsided look, before a grin broke out on his face. "Wow! Cool!"

"Thanks," Pit said, feeling rather pleased. "Nice to see someone who isn't totally species-ist,"

"Pit, none of us are 'species-ist'," Zelda said. Marth noticed her rolling her eyes. "So, can you remember your name?" she asked the red-head.

"Sure I can. I'm Roy," he said proudly.

"Roy…aren't you…I can't remember his name…the son of…oh, never mind," Marth sighed.

"Hey, aren't you Marth? Prince Marth from Altea?" Roy gave Marth the same lopsided look he had given Pit.

"Yes. Yes I am," Marth couldn't stop a proud smile sneaking onto his face.

"And…why am I here?"

"Would you have preferred it if I left you out in the desert?" Pit said, flapping his wings again.

"Oh right. So…Smash City. Never heard of it,"

"No one has,"

"So, Roy, we need to find out if you were on the list. Marth, please come with Peach and me. You need to meet the Hands," Zelda said. Marth, confused, nodded. "And Pit…you can go now. Take Roy to a room," she instructed a servant. Marth and Peach (who gave Pit a sunny smile) followed Zelda out of the room, and the servant beckoned for Roy to follow him. He was about to do so when Pit stopped him.

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" Roy stopped and turned around.

"You still have one of my light bands," he indicated to the one still on his wrist. Roy looked at his.

"Oh," he tried taking it off. "It won't move,"

"Let me," Pit came over, and just by touching it it disappeared and rematerialised with the other one. "Thank you,"

"Thanks for bringing me back here, I guess,"

"I wouldn't have left you there. I don't think anyone would. See you later," Pit tossed his mop of hair, touched the light bands and disappeared in a flash. Roy was left wondering what exactly had just happened, before following the servant out of the room.

X

Pit looked into the Seer. He was the only non-immortal in Angel Land who could use it. Paluntena used to let him look and watch the exciting things that happened on the 'Ground World' after a hard day training. Nowadays he used it as part of his other job, the Messenger. He had a hat, too, golden with wings, but he only wore it when he was delivering to places in Skyworld. He worked on the Ground World, now. He watched the swirling clouds disappear, leaving a crystal image. Way up in the sky, a small orange ship, totally lost.

"Let me see inside," he commanded, and the Seer obeyed. He saw into the cockpit, where a being of some kind, maybe a robot, or maybe just a human in an orange armour suit, was searching and scanning the area. Smash City didn't show up on radar. Whoever or whatever it was, it was getting annoyed. It was lost, and it wasn't the kind of thing to get lost. It didn't look much like the kind of thing to believe in Angels either. Pit thought he would experiment something. He dipped his hand into the pool and touched the figure.

"Hello," he said. The figure looked around.

"Who said that?" it said. The voices were always muffled in the Seer, and the voice wasn't improved by the being's helmet.

"I did. You can't see me yet. And you're not hearing things. Well, you are, but you're hearing me, and I'm not imaginary,"

"I'm not gonna believe that until I can see you,"

"Firstly, do you believe in Angels?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I am one. I'm the kind you only get one of," he took his hand out of the pool and touched the light bands again. He teleported into the ship. He'd not seen something so technical before, but he wasn't going to let his fascination get in the way. The being stared at him. He couldn't see its eyes but he could feel them staring at him.

"How did you get in?" it asked.

"Teleport,"

"So you hacked my teleports, did you?"

"No, I used…magic. I'm Captain Pit. And I know that you're lost,"

"Have you been stalking me?"

"Nope. I was just watching you a moment ago. I'm in charge of herding all the lost heroes to Smash City,"

"Are you now? And you were the voice I heard in my head?"

"That was me too,"

"Right. So, I heard voices in my head, and then a kid with bird wings appears,"

"That's pretty much what the other guys said…but they were thirsty and hungry,"

"How do you know I'm not?"

"I just…do. But follow me. I'm here to take you to Smash City. It doesn't show up on…er, that thing you have,"

"This one?" it tapped one of the many screens.

"Yeah,"

"Radar. Right, I'll follow you, but if I don't see anything then I'm warping out of here,"

"Do you have a hatch or something that I can get out through?"

"What happened to teleportation?"

"It only works for long distances,"

"It's through the door and up," Pit was about to do as the thing said, before stopping to find out it's name and what it actually was. He had done a little more research when it came to Marth and Ike.

"What's your name, by the way?"

"What, you were stalking me and you don't know? I'm Samus Aran,"

"This is going to sound weird, but what species are you? There are a lot more than just humans down here…" Samus reached up and took the helmet off.

"Does this answer your question?" she (and most _definitely_ a she) said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going to make a guess and say human,"

"What else?"

"I've seen a lot of things that look human," he told her, making his way to the door and out through the hatch. Samus put her helmet back on, pressed a few buttons and the various maps and holograms she'd had hovering in front of the 'window' disappeared. She could see Pit flying ahead of her, and slowly made her way after him. She was used to going much, _much_ faster, but this Angel kid wasn't too bad considering he was going on raw stamina.

X

Samus landed the ship just outside of the city.

"I'll have to get a teleport set up down here," she said absent mindedly, removing her helmet. "Yeah? So now what?"

"Now you follow me. We have to get to the Palace through a secret entrance, so try and make yourself scarce," Pit instructed. Scarce. Huge woman wearing an orange suit of armour, that's going to be easy. Though he didn't say that out loud. Samus followed him through the city the same way that Ike and Marth had come. Through the door in the alley, a warp to the Main Hall, and to confront Zelda, Peach and now Marth, who had settled into his position as the third ruler. There was to be a fourth. Roy was tinkering around, looking bored.

"I found Samus, Princess," Pit said to Zelda, who seemed to be the one in charge.

"Well done,"

"Right, so would anyone like to tell me just what the heck is going on? Suddenly my ship goes all weird and my navigation equipment goes haywire and then I end up here. Explain?" Samus said.

"This is the Palace of Smash City. It is where you will be staying," Zelda said. She began to explain all that she knew about what was happening, and that was when Pit's alert messenger mode switched off and flipped back to curious Angel. That was when Roy came over.

"Hello again. So were you on the list?" he asked the red-head.

"I dunno what list this thing is exactly, but I'm on it," Roy shrugged. "This place is hell boring, though. There's _exactly_ nothing to do,"

"I know," Pit nodded. "I have plenty of other things to do, anyway…"

"What do you do anyway?"

"I just bring people here. I find them using the Seer in the Palace – Paluntena's Palace, that is – and then I bring them here. They're all lost. You have to blame the Hands. Not that I've met them,"

"Yeah, these hands everyone's going on about. They powerful?"

"I think so. They're Gods in their own right, apparently. Not on my pantheon. But I think that once we have a few more people, you're allowed to go out and explore the city,"

"For a place no one's ever heard of before it seems pretty busy,"

"You should see Angeleico City," Pit grinned as he thought of the city which he lived in. "Population: Lots,"

"You're really from a different world?"

"Different world, same dimension. There are hundreds of planets and worlds in this one. The heroes are being dragged from right the way across it to here,"

"Did you get here in the same way that I did? Or Marth?"

"No…my Goddess sent me here. To help. I guess you could call me the odd-job guy. I'm not all that important to the city,"

"Zelda seems to think you are," Roy frowned. "Eh,"

"Uh, I think I need to go now. Sorry, but I have work to do. I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"OK," Roy sighed as Pit touched his light bands and disappeared again.

**Poor Pit. He's getting rushed off his sandals. He'll get a break someday within the next two chapters. Read on, my friends, read on.**


	3. The Pokemon Crew and Toon Link

**Wow I'm going through this at a rate of knots…woo. And I promise that the whole story won't ju****st be people trailing into the Palace. There'll be a plotline sometime in the not-so-distant future. I think. Enjoy!**

Pit didn't manage to retrieve any other heroes that day, but after dinner he was allowed the rest of the evening off. Marth was vaguely aware of loud voices and laughter which belonged to Pit and Roy, but he wasn't really listening. Marth was one of those kinds of people who thought. They thought hard about things until they were sure that everything made perfect sense. He relaxed in his room. It was equally as luxurious as the one he had back in Altea, if a little smaller, and further away from the library, but it was quite quiet (save the noise that the two boys were making). This morning he had found himself in the middle of a desert with his friend Ike, then he was brung here by an Angel called Pit, who was herding heroes from some sort of list that the Hands had created. He had met Master Hand, if only briefly. Master Hand was exactly as the name suggested: a giant, white, floating, possibly omnipotent hand. A right hand, to be precise. Crazy Hand was the left hand but Marth had yet to see him. Master Hand had spoken with a loud, booming voice. His voice alone screamed that he was the man (or hand) in charge. He and Crazy Hand were the only two who knew why the heroes were being gathered. Possibly Pit's Goddess Paluntena knew too, but when the Angel was questioned about it he replied that he didn't dare intrude or ask questions on her business. He'd let slip about some other Goddess he worked for too, someone he simply referred to as 'My Lady'. Marth floated in his own thoughts, and it took him a while to swim back out. He looked out the window. It was officially dark now. Everything was very, very strange. He'd just have to take it in his stride.

X

Pokemon Trainer Red found that he always woke up when the sun shone through the curtains of his room onto his face. As the sun dawned, so did his consciousness. He opened his eyes rapidly when he could feel that he wasn't lying on his bed, he wasn't in his pyjamas, and he definitely wasn't at home anymore. Slowly, he stood up and stretched. He winced as his joints clicked. He was wearing his Trainer garb. Then he took a look around. He was in the middle of some barren, red, rocky desert. He rubbed his eyes, then pinched himself. Yep…still awake. The ground beneath him felt real and hot when he touched it. He was in the middle of nowhere. He patted his pockets, and then sighed with relief. He pulled three Pokeballs out in one hand, not an easy feat, and released the three Pokemon that were within them.

"Squirtle! Charizard! Ivysaur! Come on out!" he said as the three of them appeared. The small turtle, the medium-sized plant dinosaur and the large dragon looked at him quizzically. "I don't know where we are. If you're looking like that then this is definitely real…" they muttered in their own language, protesting at being in such an odd place but also wondering why they were here anyway. "I woke up and here I am. Same as you guys. Charizard, how about we take a look around?" Charizard nodded enthusiastically and thumped his tail on the ground. "Alright then! Squirtle, Ivysaur, I'll let you guys back out when we find out where we are, got it?" the two of them nodded, returning into their respective Pokeballs. Red went over to Charizard and scrambled up onto his back, between the wings. "Up we go, Charizard!" Charizard dashed forwards in a sudden turn of speed, spread his wings and flapped. Red gripped on tight as they took off. He didn't have much of a head for heights, but this was an emergency.

X

Pit hadn't been happy to have woken up to find that a hero had appeared overnight and he needed to go and get them. It was _8am_, godammit, couldn't he wait? But no. He couldn't. So the hassled Angel had quickly changed into his normal garb and teleported back to the Ground World to find this hero. He flew in the many thermals above the desert. At least that was good. Hot air rises from hot ground and all. You had to know about climates and weather if you were going to be an experienced flyer, and Pit knew almost all there was to know. He sailed along with minimal effort, wondering if he could fall asleep in mid-air. But that would be slacking off on the job, so he couldn't. A tiny orange dot in front of him, much further below him, thought, with an even tinier red dot on it was all that he could see of Red and Charizard. But that was all he needed to see. He stretched his wings out and gave them an almighty flap, twisted sideways and dived down, soaring on the winds. He waited until he could feel the wind behind him so it would carry his voice.

"Hey!" he called. "Hey! Up here! Behind you!" he could see Red properly now, so he could also see Red turning around and looking so surprised he almost lost his grip on Charizard.

"Charizard, fly down," he instructed his Pokemon, and Charizard obeyed. Pit followed them down.

"I've been following you for ages," Pit said, pushing the mass of hair that had blown in front of his face back to where it belonged – which was just about anywhere other than his face.

"You have?" Red gave him an inquisitive look. "What are you, exactly?"

"I'm an Angel. The Angeleican kind. Messenger of the Gods, Captain of Paluntena's Army, Kid Icarus and Shepherd of Lost Heroes, as Zelda has dubbed me. I'm Pit. Hullo,"

"Hi. I'm Red. Can you tell me where I am?"

"I can. Well…uh, sorta. You're near-ish to Smash City. No one's heard of it before now, but I'm here to take you there anyway. And, er, what is _that_, exactly?" he looked at Charizard, who was looking back, regarding him closely.

"This is Charizard. Careful – he usually bites," but the dragon let Pit pat him on the nose. "I guess he likes you!"

"I guess he does. Anyway, fol -" he was interrupted by a loud sound of:

"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…"

"What's that?"

"KAAAAAAAA!"

"YOW!" both the boys yelped as their nerves were frazzled in electricity. Red was the first to recover (he wasn't the one wearing brass and gold).

"A Pikachu? And a Pichu!" he recognised the popular yellow mice. The Pichu was wearing blue goggles above its eyes.

"What are they?" Pit asked.

"They're Pokemon from where I come from. A Pichu and a Pikachu. And me here without any Pokeballs…"

"What?"

"It'd take too long to explain,"

"Don't you even think of zapping again," Pit lurched and grabbed both mice in an arm. They wriggled and protested but didn't zap. "They feel a bit thin. What do Pokemon eat?"

"Pokemon food. And Poffins. I have a few on me,"

"Feed them, will you? Before they shock me again!" so Red delved into his pockets and brought out some Poffins, which the two mice gratefully ate.

"Pika pika!" the Pikachu said.

"Pichu!" the Pichu chirped.

"I think we're friends with them," Red smiled and patted them. Pit put them down. Their ears twitched and they looked past the boys. Red turned around slowly, but Pit instinctively ducked. You didn't get anywhere on the battlefield if you turned around slowly. You either ducked or ran or turned quickly. There was a 'WHOOMPH', followed by a thump as Red hit the ground.

"Owch,"

"Wow, what's that?" Pit stared at the pink pillow with freakily big eyes. It stared back. He looked away. Red stood up.

"It's a Jigglypuff. Wow, if all these Pokemon are here then I should come back…"

"Nothing lives out here. Not even plants. I think…yeah! They must be heroes on the list!"

"List? Heroes?"

"Like you. Follow me. If you take the Pikachu and the Jigglypuff on your Charizard then I'll carry Pichu. I don't think he weighs much. Don't shock me again, OK?" Pichu nodded earnestly and allowed himself to be picked up.

"Jigglys don't weigh anything. I presume that you'll be coming with us, Miss Jigglypuff?" Red asked the Jigglypuff.

"Puff!" she said, which Red took to be a yes as she let herself be picked up alongside Pikachu and mounted onto Charizard. Charizard didn't mind much either. Red didn't weigh much, for a Trainer. The eyes upward of Pichu were visible above Pit's mass of hair. He seemed quite happy there.

"I'll lead, you follow," Pit instructed, leaping a step forwards and flapping hard as he took off. He could take off from a standing position but that took a lot of practice, and he didn't have to anyway. Red followed on Charizard, and soon they were both sailing through the air.

X

Red was amazed to see this huge city, gathered around the tall spires of the Palace, just like everyone else had been. He flew up to Pit.

"That's Smash City?" he said.

"Sure is. You see that Palace?"

"Yeah. It's amazing!"

"You're gonna be staying there,"

"In a Palace?"

"Yep!"

"Wow!" Red grinned. Neither of them noticed that on the ground beneath them, there was a white dot and a blue dot, looking up. Pit felt something tap at his brain.

"Ow,"

"Pit? PIT!" Red yelled as the Angel suddenly stopped and started to fall. Red dived down after, but Pit had already hit the ground. Then he saw what caused him to fall. A Mewtwo and a Lucario. Mewtwo was a legendary! And he didn't have any Pokeballs on him! Aaargh! Wait, what about Pit? Whoops. The Mewtwo and the Lucario seemed to be having a heated argument in Pokemon, probably about the Angel. Lucario seemed to be on the winning side.

"What is going on here?" Red couldn't help but stare, before he hopped off Charizard and walked over to Pit. Despite the drop, he looked just fine. Maybe Angels could fall from a greater height and be unharmed.

_If you even _think _of trying to battle us then you'll be deeply sorry. _Red heard the voice in his head and looked at the two Pokemon. They _were_ Psychic types. Strong ones, too. So they would be telepathic.

"Was it you who made my friend fall?"

_That was Mewtwo. _Lucario shot Mewtwo a freezing glance, which he just shrugged off. _We were hungry, he saw this…Angel and here we are. And he shouldn't have done it, should you? _he glared at Mewtwo again, before padding over to Pit and crouching down. _It is a wonder that he is unharmed. It must be something to do with being an Angel._

"That's what I thought. I kinda need him…he's taking me to Smash City,"

_To where? _the voices of both Lucario and Mewtwo sounded in his head. Mewtwo's voice was harsher, but Lucario's voice was deeper.

"Smash City. You can't see it down here but up there it's amazing," Mewtwo's eyes glowed purple.

_There is nothing for as far as I can reach. _he said.

"But I could see it! He was taking me there! And it wasn't a mirage, before you say anything else," Lucario placed his paws on either side of Pit's head. Pichu had perched on his chest, looking worried, the crash leaving him shocked but unharmed. Lucario's Aura Filters floated up and aura fired around Lucario's paws. Then everything settled back down. Lucario stood up just at the moment that Pit opened his eyes.

"That's going to hurt later on," he said with a small groan. But he stood up anyway, which made Pichu hop off. "Sorry Pichu," Lucario said something in Pokemon, which Pichu and Jigglypuff replied to.

_These other Pokemon say that they are coming with you. _Lucario said.

"They are," Pit said, picking up Pichu, who had been begging to be picked up. "Smash City is…different. It doesn't show up on ray-dah; I'm not really sure what that is but Smash City doesn't show up on it, and it sorta seems to…bend around everything else. Including people's consciousnesses. Out of curiosity…how did you get out here?"

_Neither of us know. _Mewtwo admitted. _We both appeared here, with no indication as to how or why. And you?_

"I'm in charge of bringing all you lost heroes to Smash City. I think both of you are on the list. What're your names, again?"

_I am Mewtwo. That is Lucario._

"Oh, right. Hello! I'm Pit. This is Red, Pichu, Jigglypuff…yeah you get the idea. It's not far to Smash City, so long as you follow me and Red," Lucario said something to Mewtwo in Pokemon, which Mewtwo shook his head to. Lucario frowned. The two trainers and the three lost Pokemon waited patiently while a discussion went on. There were a few Aura-Filter-raising and eye-flashing moments.

_You have good intentions. We'll come with you. _Lucario said with possibly the trace of a smile. _So long as you give us some of the Poffins that you have in your pocket. _he stared hungrily at Red, or rather Red's pocket.

"Sure!...but now I'm all out," Red gave the Poffins to the two grateful Pokemon.

"I got some water too, if you want it," Pit offered. Both of them declined. "Then let's go! The sooner we get there the sooner you can relax," he said, Pichu once again nestling in his hair. He ran a few steps and leapt in the usual take-off sequence. Red let his passengers board the ever-patient Charizard, and took off after Pit. Lucario and Mewtwo exchanged glances, but did their best to keep up with the two (or six depending on your point of view) in the air.

X

Pit went through the usual stuff with them, going through the passage and all, but when he got to the throne room a slightly _less _usual sight met his eyes.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" he said, frowning in confusion. Link and Zelda were crouched down next to a small, unconscious/sleeping figure that had a seriously uncanny resemblance to Link… "Who's that?"

"We don't know. Link found him injured in the desert when he was out riding and took him back here, but he fell asleep on the journey and he hasn't woken up," Marth explained. Then he looked at the mass of…beings that Pit had shepherded back. "You seem to be doing quite well. What kinds of…creatures are they? Can they talk?"

"Lucario and Mewtwo can do telepathy," Pit indicated to the two taller ones. "The one on my head is Pichu, that's Pikachu, she's Jigglypuff and the human is Red. They can't talk. I mean, Red can, but the others can't. You have a dragon thing called Charizard, right?" he looked at Red.

"Right," Red nodded.

"I…see…" Marth nodded slowly, before remembering the take-it-in-your-stride rule. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. I am Prince Marth. I'm sorry that you had to come across such a scene…"

"Shush," Zelda snapped, which made them all hush up. For a second everyone forgot how to breathe.

_He's trying to wake up but he can't. _Lucario said, breaking the silence (or at least, the silence in their minds). Zelda looked up at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"What are you?"

_I am Lucario. I can control and read aura, and I can read his strongly. Pinch him or something. That'll wake him up._

"W-" but before she had gotten a chance to say anything else Link had done as Lucario had said.

"Ow!" the chibi Link sat up quickly, then looked at everyone with big eyes (and his eyes were big to begin with). "Woah…" his gaze rested on Link. "Wow! A big me!"

"This is Link," Zelda said. "What about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Link too! Toon Link," the stocky boy got up and dusted off his tunic, which was lighter in colour than Link's but similar in style. "You…you look kinda like Princess Zelda…"

"I _am_ Princess Zelda," she said, slightly taken aback.

"No, she's the same height as me, with green-blonde hair…"

_I sense that he is from a different part of this dimension. So far out, in fact, that it's almost part of a different dimension entirely. _Mewtwo said in the profound way which he said things. _He was brought here, or to the desert, by the same force which brought Lucario and I._

"That must mean he's on the list," Marth said. "So we should get him and these others a room,"

"Yes Marth. You're right. Toon Link, I am the Princess Zelda of this place, that is Link, this is Prince Marth. There's another Princess, but she's –"

"Oh, my Cherub!" as if on cue (no duh) Peach said, twirling into the room. Pit's eyes widened.

"Er, I think I…er, yeah…um, Paluntena, she…seeyoulaterbye!" there was a flash as he slammed his hand onto his light bands and he was gone. Toon Link stared. Peach frowned.

"He always does that," she said. "He's very busy,"

"What the heck just happened?" Toon Link asked.

"He teleported. He does that a lot,"

"Teleportation? Cool!"

"What's all the noise and why is there a mini Link in the room?" a familiar red-headed swordsboy was giving everyone a confused look. "And what are all these animal things?"

"I shall call him…mini-me," an enigmatic voice came from the general direction of Link's face, though rather it came from his hat, which Navi was known to reside in sometimes.

"Wow your hat talks!" Toon Link said breathlessly.

"Actually, the fairy does," a little blue light wiggled out and fluttered in the air.

"Oh right. Wow you have a fairy! I used to. But not anymore,"

"No one's answering my question!" Roy protested.

"Actually it was question_s_, plural," Marth pointed out. "This is Toon Link, and…remind me of their names?" he looked to Red.

"I'm Red. That's Pichu, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Lucario and Mewtwo,"

"Oh right. That clears things up," Roy said sarkily. "They all part of the crew too?"

"We think so," Zelda said. "You must all be quite tired. Do you have any living preferences?" she asked the Pokemon, namely the ones who could speak.

_I do not 'sleep' in the way which you do…nothing at all or a containment chamber, if it could be arranged. _Mewtwo said.

"I'm sure that we could try. And Lucario? How about you?" he seemed to think for a while about this.

_I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor? _he eventually said.

"Not if you didn't want to," his eyes seemed to gleam.

_A large pile of pillows or cushions or blankets…is that asking too much?_

"No, not at all,"

_Thank yo__u. _he thanked her graciously.

"What about the smaller ones? And your own Pokemon, Red?" no one asked how she knew. You generally didn't when it came to a lady like Zelda.

"They're happy just in their Pokeballs," he shrugged. "And I'm fine with just a mattress, a pillow and a blanket,"

"I'm fairly sure we can manage that," she smiled faintly.

_I shall translate. _Lucario offered. He said something to the Pokemon (the two mice had begun to chase each other, but Jigglypuff had just…watched. With those big round eyes). _Pichu will be happy with a cushion, Pikachu would like the same, but larger and with a blanket, and Jigglypuff would preferably like a box lined with a blanket._

"You heard them," Peach snapped at the ever-present servants (for a city no one's heard of they sure had a lot), who hurried to do as they had been told.

"Marth and Peach, if you could come with me, please," Zelda said to the two of them. "Roy, could you please show Red and Toon Link to the spare rooms near yours?"

"Whatever," he kicked the ground in a teenager-ish kind of way, and shrugged. "Follow me, guys," he wandered off, so they did. Then Marth and Peach followed Zelda. Then the servants took the Pokemon to their 'rooms'. Then…there was silence.

**Da dum. ****I don't really have a lot to say here. There'll be a plot soon, honest! Or something vaguely recognisable as a plot!**


	4. Snake and Two Puffballs

**Kirby and MK appear thanks to Doggiefan and Snake appears thanks to my good friend pingodude (who isn't a reviewer but meh). As chapters go I feel that this one is shorter and not as interesting. But it'll do until I finish the next chapter, so here you go!**

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed around the courtyard as Marth and Zelda danced backwards and forwards. Zelda much preferred her magic over her sword, but magic could only get you through so much. There were some times when steel had to fight steel, but the best times were when magically supercharged steel could fight everything else. But to be fair on Marth, she wasn't going to supercharge her rapier…yet.

"I must say," Marth said as he dodged. "That for a woman your skills are exceptional," he leapt and swished his sword at said woman, but missed.

"Just because I am a woman you think I am inferior?" Zelda raised an eyebrow as she pirouetted out of the way of Falchion. "I fight to prove you wrong,"

"You told me it was because you wanted to practise against someone that wasn't Link," swish swish clank.

"He's too good. Even I cannot fight him," she swung her blade around and it hit Marth's. The typical strength fight. They both pushed. Zelda was not a weak woman but she wasn't strong either, but the same went for Marth. Had he been Ike, Zelda would've been waaaaaaaaaaay in the deep end of the pool by now. They both had to let their swords slide off each other to be able to continue the fight.

X

Roy slunk away from the window, where he had been watching the Zelda v. Marth duel. He sighed. He was _so_ bored. Red was OK, his Charizard was hell cool, Toon Link was _alright_ but way too hyper but he liked Pit the most. Too bad for him Pit was the one that was always busy, flying around the deserts, constantly switching from one world to the next. He needed something to do. He trudged off into the Palace. He hadn't explored very much of the place other than the way from the Main Hall and Throne Room to the bedrooms to the 'special' rooms – the ones which the royals slept in. Pit's room was also located there, but it wasn't very lived in, since he had his own room back in Angel Land. He ran off down the nearest corridor, following his nose to see where it would take him. And with Roy's natural instinct for trouble and all, it took him to the loud bangs and shouts of the kitchen.

"Whoa…what the hell is going on here?" he stared at the mess in the kitchen, his eyes wide but his lips turned up in a grin. The chefs were darting all over the place, running away from something or running to protect something else. Roy walked in. In the middle of the room, in a ring of food waste and flour, there was a small, pink, _thing_. It looked up as Roy's shadow was cast across it. "What the heck are you?"

"Kuh-bee!" it said, it's mouth turned up in an adorable smile. It was used to it's soulful eyes getting almost anything it wanted. It hadn't met a boy like Roy before.

"Kirby. Right. So you can talk,"

"Poyo,"

"What?"

"Poyo poyo!" Kirby smacked his lips and smiled.

"Oookay…so maybe you can't,"

"Just take that thing away!" one of the female chefs protested. "Looks at the mess it's made!"

"All the food it's eaten! The meals will not be the same," another sighed.

"I think it's cute," one of the younger girls said, but feeling the glares of the angrier chefs, she added: "But a menace. Yes. Definitely a menace," Kirby emitted a scared squeak as he was lifted off the ground by a kind of purple aura.

_Ah. Roy. I should have known. Of course, I already did. _Mewtwo glided in, his paw outstretched and pointing at Kirby.

"Hi Mewtwo. Check out this pink thing that I found. It's even better at making chaos and destruction than I am!"

_He seems to be harmless, however. He's called Kirby. From the kingdom of Dreamland._

"You did that using your mind-reading thingy?"

_Yes. His thoughts are very simple. Mainly they consist of food…but he has a few thoughts about the desert…there's another being like him, a masked swordsman…he was cast out into the desert too. Where he is now, I have no idea. He also remembers a penguin-like being. A king?_

"Dedede," Kirby frowned, his big eyes turning to faint anger. "Bad!"

"So he _can_ talk!" Roy poked Kirby, who squeaked again.

"Down! Kirby want down!" Mewtwo gently lowered Kirby to the floor.

"Go on, now shoo! I won't be having with you in my kitchen, and that thing is certainly not allowed back!" the three of them found themselves being pushed out of the kitchen by an angry chef, the doors shutting firmly behind them. Mewtwo and Roy looked down at Kirby.

"Poyo!"

"How come it speaks sometimes and sometimes it just says 'poyo'?" Roy pulled a face.

_I…am not sure. _Mewtwo frowned. _There's some kind of force. Lucario is the one who deals with life forces, I deal with everything else. I think this Kirby may be on the 'list' that the Angel speaks of often. Come with me. _he instructed them both. Kirby waddled behind the Pokemon and the swordsboy. He didn't know how he got here, but so long as they had food he didn't mind much.

X

Meta Knight often had the odd bird sucked into the engines of his magnificent Halberd or a couple of geese on the front window, but never had he had those things happen to a passing Angel before. Said Angel was now recovering inside. There was an unsightly trail of blue, which was _probably_ blood, if Angel blood was blue, trailing down from the base of one of his wings and a few feathers were missing on the other.

"Sorry," Pit apologized again for something that probably wasn't his fault. "I wasn't expecting a huge ship thing to come flying out of nowhere…"

"Nor was I expecting an Angel to do the same," Meta Knight said, casually pulling one of the many levers needed to fly his ship. "This Smash City you speak of…it truly does not show up on radar?"

"Yeah, it doesn't show up. I would just show you the way but I, uh, can't exactly do that at the moment,"

"Are you quite sure that you are alright?"

"I think I'll be fine," Sheesh, the last few days have not been particularly pain-free, Pit thought. First, Navi had accidentally slapped him (best not to go into detail), then he'd plummeted six-hundred foot because of a Psychic Pokemon and then here he was with a steady trail of blood pouring out of his left wing. He was sitting inside the Halberd and marveling at it's interior. Unlike Samus' ship, this was a ship for working in. Samus' ship wasn't just for transportation, she lived in it too. For the time being she stayed in the Palace but only until she could get a teleporter up down here. Then she would anchor the Gunship high above the city, and teleport whenever she wanted to get up or down. Her teleports worked in different ways, Pit knew that much. "But I don't know how I'm going to get you to Smash City,"

"Is it a particularly magic city?"

"Magic? Yeah, I guess so…I mean, there has to be something," Meta Knight flicked a switch and pressed a couple of buttons. The board in front of the window was huge, with perhaps a hundred buttons and at least fifty levers, but Meta Knight knew which lever did what and definitely, never to press the big red button.

"Ah. Now I see it," there was a huge blob of some kind on the blue-coloured radar which the knight had brought up.

"Is that a magic radar?" Pit asked.

"It is,"

"Wow," he sat in silence as Meta Knight steered his ship towards the city.

X

Pit walked with Meta Knight off the ship and led him to the Palace. Behind his mask, the yellow ovals of Meta Knight's eyes widened.

"Kirby?" he had difficulty containing the surprise in his tone. Kirby's smile widened.

"Poyo!" he said.

_Ah. You must be Meta Knight. _Mewtwo said, looking through the hubcap mask into Meta Knight's mind.

"I am,"

_Pit, what happened to you? _Lucario, who had wandered in sometime previously, looked at Pit's bleeding wing and the other messy one.

"Oh…I had a run-in with Meta Knight's ship. The Halberd. I wasn't really expecting it to come out of nowhere and I got kinda…sucked in,"

_You should get that looked at._

"I probably should. By who? Are there any doctors down here?"

_Funny you should mention that. Come with me. You need to meet the new Dr…_ Lucario put a paw on Pit's arm and gently towed him away. Meta Knight looked back at Mewtwo.

"Where am I?" he asked.

_In the Palace of Smash City. We found Kirby in the kitchen and by the looks of things I presume that Pit brought you here._

"He did,"

_He's in charge of bringing any heroes stranded in the desert here. Even I do not know why. Lucario and I have tried time and time and again to scour his mind but something blocks us every time. But enough. I should probably take you to meet the rulers of the City, Princess Zelda especially. _So Mewtwo took both puffballs through.

X

Peach, Ike and Zelda were conversing with an unfamiliar figure when Mewtwo, Kirby and Meta Knight arrived.

"…and that's how I ended up in that desert," the stranger said. He seemed to be kitted out with several different kinds of explosives, with a stubbly beard and a bandana not unlike Ike's.

"Huh. Impressive," Ike said. "But not compared to what I've d-"

"Ah. You must be Kirby and Meta Knight, am I correct?" Zelda cut across the bluenette and walked over to the newcomers.

"We are. And who am I addressing?" Meta Knight asked.

"I am Princess Zelda. That is Princess Peach, Ike and Solid Snake, who appeared only minutes ago…I think that another meeting with the Hands is in order…"

"I'm sorry?"

"The rulers of this city are truly a pair of Hands, created by the Goddess of Unity and the God of Chaos. Marth, Peach and I are just the royals. Though we still need one more ruler…"

"I'm sure my Cherub will be able to find them!" Peach chirped. Zelda could only sigh.

"Yes, Peach. I'm sure he will,"

_Actually, he is currently injured. _Mewtwo told her. _Lucario took him to the new doctor._

"How did he get injured?"

_I believe he flew into Meta Knight's Halberd._

"Oh,"

_Angels can heal quickly. I'm fairly sure he will be perfectly fine later on._

"I think that he deserves a rest from all the hard work he's doing," Peach said.

"She has a point," Zelda nodded. "But I'm sure that both of you would like to relax a little. Please take them," she said to another of the many waiting servants, who went over to the two puffballs but before he could take them away Zelda spoke again. "Snake, please go too,"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure," he lumbered over and followed the servant as well, looking rather out of place next to the puffballs.

"I shall go and see Pit. I think he deserves a break,"

"Oh, let me come too!" Peach and Zelda both left the hall. Mewtwo flickered for a moment, and disappeared.

X

Samus stood inside her Gunship, and took off her helmet with a hiss of steam. The cockpit of the ship was small with just two seats, a large window and the standard lift-off, land, fire and do-not-press-this buttons. And also a few levers for good luck. But through the door was her home. It was carpeted and rather luxurious, with a hot tub and a mini bar. She'd had those installed only after she'd decided to take a little rest from the bounty-hunting life. As a bounty-hunter you didn't have time for luxuries like that. But now she did. She removed the rest of her suit with minimal difficulty and tidily stashed it away in the container. Then she went through another door, this time it was one which led outside of the ship, to a kind of balcony. The view from up here was amazing, especially as the sun began to set. She looked down at all the cars, almost too small to see, and at the monstrous great Palace (at least it was an attractive monster). Like Marth, Samus occasionally liked to pause and think about things, but not nearly as much as he did. In case it wasn't obvious, she wasn't much like Marth. He was a slightly girl prince, who liked to fight with a sword, and she was a very tomboyish woman who preferred her weapons to go 'boom'. A tiny glimmer made her bring her gaze up from the city to the Palace. She squinted at where the light was being reflected from, on the roof of the Palace, but she couldn't see. She went inside to see if she could find the binoculars. They weren't just normal ones, of course. Samus always tried to have the best when it came to technology (what else was she going to spend all that bounty on?). She focused them on the glimmer on the Palace and a small smile creeped onto her face. Pit had indeed healed quickly, and been delighted at the fact that he was allowed time off. And Samus could see him right now, sitting on the roof of the Palace. He appeared to be playing some kind of instrument. It looked like a small harp. What did they call those things again? Oh yes. It was a lyre. He looked quite peaceful away from all the bustle and noise, so Samus switched off the device and walked back inside.

X

But Pit wasn't the only one who had been watched. In a language very few understood, two giants were conversing.

"They are doing well," one said.

"Yes. So much so that I feel that something is wrong. Can you feel it?" the one who spoke first paused.

"Yes. I can. Something is about to happen,"

"It's her. It must be her,"

"You mean…Her? The Highest Evil?"

"It must be something like that…"

"How can we be sure? Maybe it is something lesser…perhaps Darkrai?"

"Perhaps…but perhaps not. Come. We must consult The Mistress," it turned and lumbered forwards, before both of them disappeared in a cloud of billowing smoke.

**For some reason I like the idea of Samus turning her practical bounty-hunter ship into a luxury home…doesn't really fit well but heck this is my story I can do what I like. And hey! A plot is sort-of-developing! Hopefully we'll see more of that in the next chapter. Also, I've discovered a formula called Rw = U. Reviews equals update. So what are you waiting for?**


	5. Lucas and Ness

**Update! Betcha didn't see that coming. I dunno how I get through this so fast but it's worrying me, 'cause I should probably go outside and get a life, even though it feels like I'm trying to lead three already. ANYWAY somewhere amongst the random conversations down there there is more plotline! Woohoo!**

Pit gently rubbed the base of his wing, the one that had had torn a little when he'd crashed into the Halberd. It seemed just fine right now, and it had worked when he'd flown up to the Palace roof, so he'd probably have to continue working tomorrow. Sigh…but this was an important job. Paluntena had made it clear just how important by the urgency and the faint tilt of panic in her voice when she had given it to him. He'd been to many places on his message carrying and fought a lot of foes as a Captain, and sometimes both at once, but something was making Paluntena worry. She knew what he was capable of and she never feared for him when he was fighting. She knew he'd come back alive. Maybe a bit torn, maybe a bit bloody but alive. And of course, having the Goddess of War as your best friend was _also_ helpful. But damn Hermes, if only he came then I wouldn't have to do all of this and I could be the one pattering around in the Palace, dueling Roy and rushing around the gardens with Toon Link, Pit thought to himself as he readied for bed. He liked that little swordsman. He made him laugh. And Roy; Roy was a riot. He made him laugh too, but he could fight well and he was brave and in some ways reminded him of My Lady, in his pyromanic ways and the devilish smirk. A sudden gust of air made him look, puzzled, at his window, which had previously been shut. But now it was open. He frowned and went over to it. From the sky fell one, single feather. It was black. He looked at it in his palm, looked up, frowned and shut the window. He inspected it closely for a moment, before putting it on his bedside table and abruptly forgetting about it. He never noticed the raven which had left the feather. Now it spread its wings and with a caw, it flew away.

X

The following morning, Samus wandered into the Palace. She'd heard about the Pokemon, though she had yet to meet them. She couldn't find any of them inside, so she clunked outside, which was indeed where most of them were, either meditating or watching the world in a quiet fashion or chasing one another. She made sure not to step on the two mice as they scampered around as she made her way over to the blue one, Lucario. His eyes instantly flicked open as she approaced.

_I don't think we've met. _he said.

"No, I don't think we have,"

_You must be…Samus, am I right?_

"Yeah, you are. How'd you figure that out?"

_I was told to watch out for a woman wearing orange armour. Simple._

"And you are…?"

_Lucario. An Aura Pokemon. Some would say _the _Aura Pokemon._

"Oh, Pokemon like that kid has? What's his name…Red?"

_Yes. Though like the Pokemon here, _he indicated to Pikachu, Pichu and Jigglypuff. _I don't have a Trainer. Nor does Mewtwo. I think he is meditating too._

"Mewtwo…that's the freaky white one, right?"

_Yes. Though I would not call him that to his face, if I were you. He can be rather…savage._

"I heard that he made Pit plummet several hundred feet from the sky,"

_He did. _Lucario said, a tad icily. _And he shouldn't have. I'm quite fond of that Angel._

"He's alright. Don't talk to him much. He was on the roof yesterday. Playing a lyre or something,"

_I hear that they're popular instruments in Skyworld. _Lucario flicked an ear as a butterfly flew past. _He seems to play an important role in the Palace, however._

"That's why he's always rushing around. But – hey!" Samus, caught off-guard, was pushed out of the way as a rather-too-familiar red-head darted past, laughing in an almost maniacal way, shortly followed followed by not one but _two_ bluenettes, both of which mad. A second after they had past, Samus spoke again. "What the hell just happened?"

_Roy happened. _Lucario said with a faint sigh. _I think he took Marth's tiara thing and Ike's bandana._

"That wouldn't surprise me. So long as he doesn't mess with me though, I think I'll laugh with him. Marth's a girly royal and Ike's a thick mercenary,"

_Neither of them are that bad. Marth is quite intelligent, and Ike is apparently a very skilled warrior. So much so, in fact, that he has once beaten Link in a duel._

"Oh, the surly blond guy?"

_Probably. If you're going to accuse anyone of being a few braincells short you could probably accuse him, but only out of earshot. He's quite touchy. And also his fairy doesn't like it either. She says that the only person who can call Link stupid is her._

"Yeah, I've met her. Quite the attitude,"

"Why thank you," Lucario and Samus gave the fairy a surprised look as she floated over, followed as ever by Link. "Believe me, you don't get anything through Link's skull unless you have attitude. Anyway, Link wants to duel someone. Maybe a team duel? If one of you wants to be on his team,"

"If you want to fight, Lucario, I'll fight on your side," Samus said, turning back to face Lucario.

_Why not? _

"Whoop. I'll go find Ike, he'll probably want to be on our team…" Navi settled on Link's shoulder.

_Actually we just witnessed him chasing after Roy, I think because Roy had taken his bandana._

"Then we'll just have to go find him. Or Marth or someone…"

_Actually Marth was also chasing Roy. Though he was chasing because of his headbrace rather than a bandana._

"Headwhat? Nah, you mean tiara. You guys can meet us in the courtyard in an hour. But c'mon, Link! Let's go!" she flew back off again. Link gave Lucario and Samus a passing glance before wandering after his fairy.

_Should we practise a little? _Lucario asked.

"Why not?" Samus shrugged, so the two of them walked off together.

X

High up in Skyworld, Pit was standing once again in front of the Seer, ready to resume his duties.

"Show me," he instructed, and the waters began change from the clear ripples. As they focused, Pit could see a small boy with blond hair, accompanied by another boy, probably the same age, but with black hair and a baseball cap.

"That…that was close," the blond one puffed. "Too close,"

"We did well though, right? Nothing else can ambush us now!" the capped one smiled and offered a hand up, which the blond took gratefully.

"Thanks Ness," he dusted himself off. "But we need to find a way out of here, now!"

"Yep. Let me take a look," Ness focused and shot upwards, much to Pit's surprise. He floated, suspended in the air, concentrating on floating and on searching. "I think…I think I can see something! Like a big castle or something…"

"A castle in the desert? You're seeing a mirage,"

"No Lucas, I'm telling you, it's really there!"

"Who would build a castle in the desert?"

"I dunno, but we need to head there!"

"Ness, it doesn't exist," Lucas sighed before Pit cast his hand across the image and it faded. Ness and Lucas. One of them could hover, possibly fly. He wasn't sure about the other one, but they were stranded nonetheless. Pit touched his light bands and flashed away.

X

Lucas and Ness were walking ahead of him when Pit got down. They didn't notice his arrival.

"I'm so thirsty…" Lucas sighed.

"We need to keep going!...even if I'm thirsty too," Ness fanned himself with his hat.

"I got some water, if you want it," Pit said.

"That would be gre – WHAT," both of them whipped around and looked up at Pit.

"Well? Do you want it or not?"

"But…" Lucas started.

"I'm not a mirage, by the way. Here. Mirages don't give you water when you're thirsty," he once again pulled the water containers out of seemingly nowhere and handed them to the two boys. He waited patiently while they drank it down in big gulps.

"So you're a real angel?" Lucas finally said after totall draining the bottle, which Pit took back.

"Think of me as your guardian Angel. And I'm going to take you away from this desert,"

"Sounds good to me," Ness wiped his mouth and handed the bottle to Pit. "So where will you take us?"

"To Smash City. You know that castle you saw earlier on?"

"How do you know about that?" Lucas frowned.

"Yeah?" Ness said.

"Well, it's not a castle and it's not a mirage. It's a Palace. And it's where you're going to be staying," Pit smiled the twinkly smile which he had. "So you need to come with me,"

"Whoa," both boys said at once, before Lucas' eyes suddenly widened.

"Watch out!" he said, pushing Pit down as something sailed over his head. Pit leapt to his feet almost instantly and all three boys looked at the attacker. Pit gasped.

"Demon!" he hissed, unclipping his bow, which had recently had little use (in case you wanted to know, it usually just hung as a small brown handle on his belt but stretched out when he picked it up).

"I take it that's bad," Ness pulled back a hand. "PK Fire!" fire erupted out of his fingertips. Pit flapped hard and pushed himself off the ground so he could fight from above. He pulled his hand across the space where the bowstring should be and an arrow (plus bowstring) appeared and were released, hitting the demon at the same time as Lucas PK Freezed it. As quick as that, Pit snapped his bow in two and dived at the frozen demon, stabbing it in the gut. It piffed out of existence.

"Well that could've been harder," Pit said, twirling one of the blades absent mindedly.

"Yeah. That's what I thought too, until I saw all of those things over there," Ness said, once again charging an attack.

"What?" Pit stared at the incoming monsters. "Monoeyes! Stab 'em right in the middle, that's the easiest way!" he took a run up and flew back into the air, loading and firing an arrow as the Monoeye swarm approached.

"PK Fire!" Lucas yelled, flaming three at once. Pit fired three arrows at once, each of them hitting the Monoeyes which Lucas had fired square in the, uh, eye. Ness pulled a baseball bat out and scored, in effect, a home run.

"Gotcha," he said, turning to PK Pulse another Monoeye. He was about to do so when they all stepped back a blur of blue sped in, knocking the floating Monoeyes to the ground. The blue thing unrolled to reveal itself as a kind of hedgehog thing.

"I was passing by and couldn't help but notice that you looked like you needed some help," he said, kicking a Monoeye and making it go 'piff'. Not stopping to find out who he was, the three boys launched themselves back into battle alongside this new hedgehog guy. It was only a matter of minutes until the remaining Monoeyes were gone. Pit landed gently on the ground.

"Who are you?" he asked the hedghog.

"Sonic's the name," he introduced himself. "Speed's my game. I can run at the speed of light," he grinned. "And what about you? How come there are three kids in the middle of nowhere and one of them's got wings?"

"I'm an Angel," Pit said, sighing. It wasn't _that_ extrodinary. No more extrodinary than a supersonic hedgehog. "I'm Pit. The guardian Angel. And these are Ness and Lucas. They're lost just as much as you are, and I'm here to take you all to Smash City,"

"I've been running round for ages and I haven't seen any cities,"

"Then you were running the wrong way. It's over there, somewhere," Pit waved his hand vaguely over 'there'. There was a whoosh of passing air, and Sonic had gone.

"Hey, wait!" but he had definitley gone. "Huh. Jerk. But come on guys, we need to get to Smash City too!" he flew up so he was a couple of metres above them. "It's not far, if you can fly anyway," he pointed to Ness.

"Oh, I can't fly. I can hover a bit but not fly, exactly…"

"Then you'll just have to run. I won't go too fast, don't worry,"

"Well, OK…"

"Then follow me," he spiralled off forwards, followed by Ness and Lucas.

X

Ness and Lucas, the PSI-powered youths, fitted into the Palace right away, almost immediately befriending Red. But for Marth, it was time for another meeting with Master Hand. He walked with Peach to the room at the top of the Palace (that's a lot of steps) to meet with Master Hand.

"What do _you_ think is going on, Marth?" Peach asked him.

"I'm not sure…but I had an odd dream last night about what was going on. It was like we were some kind of army up against this huge towering hag. It was very peculiar,"

"That is a bit weird. I dreamt about bubble bath…yeah. I'm not really sure,"

"Nor am I," Marth pushed the door open, letting Peach in first before walking in himself, closing the door behind him. Zelda was already there. She gave them a nod of establishment as they walked up. They turned as a faint whooshing sound announced the arrival of Master Hand. There he was, a huge, floating white hand.

"Greetings," he said in his deep voice. "You have been doing well. We have had little interruption. Well done,"

"Yes, Master Hand. Though it is not us you should be congratulating but Pit. It was him who did the work," Zelda said. She tended to be the leader of the rulers, the one with most power. But a smart woman.

"I shall pass the message on," Master Hand nodded, which consisted of him bobbing up and down, almost. "But something has been drawn to my attention. I know for a fact that this afternoon, while the Captain was bringing Lucas and Ness here, they were ambushed by a demon and a swarm of Monoeye. Were you aware of this?"

"No," they shook their heads, frowning.

"You should know that demons are beings from Hell. But Monoeyes are minions from the Underworld, a totally different place altogether. It is dark, damp and cold, a place with no life but the ferocious and deadly beasts that inhabit it such as the Chimera and the Hydra, famously difficult to kill. And it won't just stop at Monoeyes. Before long we could be well be seeing Chimeras and Hydras roaming the city, wreaking destruction as they go. We need to be careful. Very careful. We need the fourth ruler to help strengthen the city, and we need him soon. Pass this on to the Captain…but don't mention the Underworld. Not yet. And Mewtwo, you may enter," the three royals, surprised, watched as Mewtwo flickered into existence. "I knew you were there since the beginning of the meeting. I hope that I can trust you?"

_You can trust me to tell no one, Master Hand. _Mewtwo said. _But I have information that you might be interested to hear._

"Then speak it,"

_Darkrai. I presume this name means something to you._

"Of course,"

_The Pokemon of Nightmares. I have found out from a…reliable source that Darkrai has awoken. I have been told that he instantly flocked to the Underworld._

"Yes…that is as I feared. Darkrai," he turned back to the royals. "Is the Pokemon of all that is dark and evil, bringing nightmares and chaos wherever he goes, just as the 'Queen' of the Underworld does. Only he can pass to and from the Underworld when he likes. But as light conquers dark, Cresselia conquers Darkrai," he explained. "And Cresselia told you this?" he then asked Mewtwo, who was, just for a fraction of a second, surprised.

_She did. _he said. _She is concerned for our safety, and she says that her mistress is also becoming increasingly aware of the problems that we are beginning to have. _Master Hand had an air of mild confusion.

"But surely…"

_Cresselia says that her mistress is not to be doubted, despite her inferiority to the other Gods, the 'Queen of the Underworld', as I believe you called her, included._

"But can we trust her? In times like this, we can't be too sure. Be careful, all of you," he addressed all four of them. "You may leave. Remember, tell the Captain to find the fourth ruler. And soon,"

"Certainly," Zelda bent over in a small bow, which Peach and Marth copied. Then they, Mewtwo included, left, making their way back down the winding stairs to thing about what they had been told, and to prepare for the fight…

X

The two giants waited. In a flash and the familiar cloud of smoke, she appeared.

"I am sorry I could not be here sooner. My mistress…she wished to speak with me," the newcomer said.

"You spoke to one of those in the Palace," the first one said.

"Our mistress instructed to keep out of the way of those in the Palace, as your mistress has instructed you too," the other said in a serious and slightly chilling tone. The newcomer hung her head.

"That was what she wished to speak to me about. She said…that I could be excused. I only wanted to keep them safe. And you know that her friend is the one that tos and fros from Skyworld to here. She scorns him, but they are friends. And I must keep him safe, or else I will have failed…"

"And we need your help in keeping Darkrai out of the way. Only you have the power to seal him away," the first said sharply. "Our powers can weaken him, yes, but not to the same scale that yours can,"

"Yes…I know. And you know that I will keep the darkness and bad dreams away the best that I can. I live only to make the world peaceful and happy, to counter Darkrai. But alone I could not possibly take Giratina too…"

"Giratina?"

"Where does Giratina come into this?" the two giants said.

"Mewtwo told me that Giratina tried to contact him, to persuade him to come to their side and fight for 'their valiant cause' but he declined,"

"Mewtwo? How can we know that we can trust Mewtwo? He was created by man to serve man," the second said.

"But he doesn't. He is as free thinking as an average Pokemon, but more powerful. He…he suggested that we find Mew,"

"Mew…yes. We must find Mew. Send a message to the Lake Guardians. We need Mew's power to help us," he instructed the first, who nodded. "Cresselia, you may leave now," the second said to the newcomer Cresselia. She nodded.

"Thank you. I will be cautious of Darkrai on my journeys…farewell…" in a flash and a cloud of smoke, she disappeared.

**It's **_**probably**_** obvious who the two giants are since I **_**probably definitely **_**blew to too much. Oh well, if you can understand what's going on then I'd like you to tell me since I don't. Reviews equal updates! Or so they say.**


	6. The Fourth Ruler, also Star Fox

**What? You're still here? I'm amazed. Sorry I took so long, I hadn't **_**quite**_** planned this far. I'm not really sure what's going on here, or if it's very exciting, but I promise that in the next chapter some exciting fighty-legendary-Pokemony stuff will happen. With that in mind, I shall no longer detain you from what I call 'another fine mess'.**

Two days passed without much happening. Well, there was the incident with Roy's sword and the toaster, and then there was Kirby eating _all_ of the Pokemon apart from Mewtwo (actually, he ate Mewtwo too, but spat him out again almost instantly) and ending up absorbing _all_ of their powers, which while being cool looked pretty weird…but in the gathering of heroes, nothing. Until the third day, during the afternoon.

X

Pit had been standing in front of the Seer for some time now, watching what was going on within. Sometimes he'd whoop or boo or flap his wings but at the moment he was watching in silence, holding his breath.

"Yeah! Take that, bad guys!" he broke the short but _very silent_ silence as he watched the ongoing battle in the stars. It was thousands of miles away, or at least so he thought, in machines like nothing he'd ever seen before. It was exciting to watch, yet so unreal at the same time.

"Pit?" he was so absorbed in the battle in the stars that he didn't hear someone call his name. "…Pit? Pit!"

"Hwah?" he whipped around, cringed for a split second and then went down on one knee. Paluntena regarded him with an unreadable look for a moment.

"Stand up," she commanded. Pit obeyed. "Do you know what you were watching?"

"A battle of some kind. With the stars as the battleground," he told her. Most other soldiers would call her 'Madam' or 'Lady' but he didn't. She wouldn't let him.

"Did it ever cross your mind that the…people you were watching in that fight might have been on the List?" there was a moment's silence.

"I think it might've. But then I forgot," he said truthfully. "Shall I go and get them?"

"Don't. You can't survive in that environment. Just wait. It shall all come crashing down…and then you find them. All three," Paluntena instructed. She had already foreseen it, as the only Goddess with the power of premonition. Pit nodded, and bowed as she teleported away. Then he rushed back over to the Seer.

"Let me hear," he commanded. At once the muffled, slightly echoey sounds came. But instead of the rushing air, or whatever Pit was expecting, he heard the people inside the strange flying machines.

"Don't these guys ever give up?" one voice said, though Pit couldn't tell who.

"Not likely. We've beaten them before loads of times. Not as if there's any reason we can't now,"

"I'd hate to be a killjoy but my fuel tank's starting to run low,"

"Yours too?"

"And I'm not retreatin'. Hell no,"

"Falco, Leon at three o' clock!" there was the faint sound of laser beams being fired.

"Cheers. Woah, seriously, my fuel's getting low…"

"Mine'll be OK, at least for a while,"

"Reckon Wolf's gonna give up any time soon?"

"Let's see…ready to surrender, Wolf?"

"Don't bet on it," a new voice, a deep growl said. Then suddenly, the whole image shook and disappeared, just like that.

"What? No!" Pit frowned angrily, before calming just as quickly. Maybe that was what Paluntena meant by crashing down? Only one way to find out…

X

"…And then here we are," Fox explained. "All three of us. Temporary truce between Wolf and myself, at least until we find out what happened and to get out of here," the fat stranger nodded.

"First Meta Knight and then that damn puffball…think they're here too?" he asked to the world in general.

"I don't know either of them, but maybe. Is there enough room on that thing for all of us?" Fox leaned past and looked at the Cargo. Scratches here and there suggested that it had once been yellow but had been repainted to be red.

"Get your own ride! And there isn't enough room anyway. Not for all four of us," he leaned on his huge mallet and looked at his Cargo thoughtfully. "Nope. Not enough room,"

"So now what? We walk around until we die?"

"Not really," Pit's natural instinct of turning up at the perfect time was initiated as he floated down next to them. All four of them stared. "Look, I'm an Angel, get over it. If you want my help in getting out of here then you're going to have to get over it pretty quickly, too. And no, I'm not an illusion,"

"You got some kinda proof?" the fat one asked.

"I can do this," Pit stamped his foot onto the fat one's, to which the reply was a yelp.

"Okay, proof enough,"

"Who are you guys anyway? I never had time to find out. I'm Pit, by the way," Pit looked across at the Star Fox/Wolf members.

"I'm Fox, he's Falco and that's Wolf," Fox introduced them all. "And I don't know about this guy," he eyed up the fat one.

"Dedede," Dedede said. "_King_ Dedede,"

"King?" Pit said, with a hint of hope in his voice.

"King of Dreamland. And don't forget it either," the enormous penguin swiveled his equally as enormous mallet.

"Then you're the fourth royal! We've been waiting for you for ages!"

"Eh?"

"Where I'm taking you, there are four thrones but up until now only three of them were filled. You must be the fourth! The Second King!"

"Second?"

"Well…Marth _was_ one of the first people there…you would have to ask him if he didn't mind being the Second instead of the first…_anyway_…it's a long way to Smash City, I don't know if you'd be able to make it before lunch, so…" he looked at his halos and then at the Cargo. "Everyone make sure you're touching that thing," he indicated to said Cargo. They exchanged glances but did as the stocky Angel had commanded. Then Pit made a swift jump up onto it, and slammed his hands against his halos. There was a flash, and then there was nothing.

X

"King of a city like this…King Dedede, King of Smash City. Dun't have quite the same ring to it as King of Dreamland. Dreamland's a bit bigger, for one thing," Dedede surveyed the Palace, his mallet resting on his shoulder. "But a king could get used to livin' in a place like this. Count me in,"

"I believe we already have," Marth said. Since Zelda was currently unavailable (presumed to be out riding with Link, since no-one had heard Navi for a good couple of hours), Marth had become the auto-proclaimed Most Important Royal. "Zelda's usually the one that does all of this…she's the Princess of Hyrule. And one of the Queens of Smash City. The other is Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, who is probably chasing Pit. I can only hope he can escape," he rolled his eyes. "And I am Prince Marth…or in this instance, the other King. I come from Altea,"

"Cool cool…so where do I sleep? Where are the kitchens? And what ab – Kirby?"

"Aiee!" Kirby, who had just waddled into the room unaware of what was going on, squeaked and tried to escape but his fellow friend Pikachu stopped him.

"Pika?"

"Dedede! Poyo!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"What," Dedede said simply, his face a picture of confusion. Then it lifted. "I don't think I've ever been this happy to see you, Kirby!" Kirby had a confused face too for a moment.

"No clobbah?"

"No clobberin' this time,"

"Poyo!" Kirby smiled a toothless smile.

"Hey wait, he spoke!" Dedede's eyes widened.

"Yes, that was a matter of debate for Zelda…Meta Knight told us that Kirby had before only been able to say his name, 'poyo' and, I believe, watermelon. The longer he stays here the more he says…Zelda reckons it's to do with magic. It usually is," he sighed. He had never been used to magic. It was swords and words, swords and words. But not magic. And then here he was.

"MK's here too?"

"Oh, yes. I think he's on his Halberd with Samus at the moment. She's quite impressed by it,"

"Eh?"

"I'm sure you'll pick things up as you go along. It's much too complicated to explain now, partly because even I'm not entirely sure what's going on,"

"Tell me what you know,"

"Well, that Angel that brought you and the Lylat…people here, Pit, he's in charge of bringing any 'heroes' he finds out in the desert here. There _is_ a reason for them all being there, Zelda blames it on Master Hand, but no one's really sure…but most people are happy living in a Palace as grand as this and I must say I agree with them. Despite the fact that some of its other inhabitants are simply just nuisances…"

"I can deal with 'nuisances'," Dedede thumped his mallet on his shoulder heavily. "And is it me or can I smell burnin'?" Marth muttered something which was (thankfully) unaudible.

"Send someone out to find Roy. If you do find him then…then stop him," he sharply instructed a nearby servant, who did as all throne room servants did and hurried off to do his command.

"Roy?"

"He's a pyromaniac. And frankly an extreme…pain,"

"I get what you mean," Dedede nodded, just as one of the several different doors burst open and in came Pit, a Pichu at his feet.

"Thanks Pichu! Oh. Hi Marth. Hi Dedede," he said, recognizing the penguin (Dedede is not a particularly forgettable person). Upon seeing Pikachu and Kirby in the corner, Pichu hesitated, wondering whether to run over or stay with Pit. After much debate, he ran over to Pikachu and Kirby. "I was just…yeah. Never mind,"

"So you're an important kid, are you?" Dedede poked Pit in the chest, which made him stagger backwards a step or two.

"Um. Am I?" he turned to Marth.

"Yes, Pit, you are quite important. Most would go to say very important,"

"Well…I guess…hey Pichu! Wait up!" Pit ran after the little yellow mouse, which had started to patter away now Kirby and Pikachu had left. This left Marth and Dedede.

"When's lunch around here? I haven't eaten since breakfast," Dedede patted his monstrous stomach. Once again, Marth sighed as the penguin waddled off. Then he too left the room. Then there was nothing.

X

Pit, with Pichu nestled in his hair, wandered around the Palace. He had the feeling that he was going AWOL from his duties, but that was just too bad, he decided.

"Where do you feel like going, Pichu?" Pit squinted up, though he could only see the hair that Pichu was squashing.

"Pichu," came the reply. Since neither of the 'translators' were around, Pit only had to hope as he wandered through the corridors. He did come across someone to talk to, though.

"Hi Red! Hello Mewtwo. What's that you got there?" Pit asked. There was a small bird perched on Red's shoulder.

"Mewtwo said he found this Starly in the gardens," Red explained.

"Pichu pichu chu!" Pichu squeaked at the Starly.

"Star starr," was the Starly's reply.

"I'm not sure what a Pokemon like this was doing in the gardens all the way over here though, and neither is Mewtwo,"

_It is a mystery. _Mewtwo said blandly. Unlike Lucario, Mewtwo tended to have little emotion in his voice (or at least, telepathic thoughts). Though that particular remark had a slight hint of sarcasm. Though only very slight. _Quite a mystery. _

"Either way, it's really friendly!"

_He wishes for someone to play with him. Perhaps Pichu could take up that offer._

"Sounds good to you, Pichu? To play with the new Starly?" Pichu squeaked eagerly and hopped down from his perch onto Pit's wing, and from there onto the floor, where the Starly met him. "I like Pichu. He's so fun. Oh yeah, and I don't know if you know yet but the final ruler is here. He's King Dedede from Dreamland. And he's kinda the total opposite of the others…"

"What'd you mean?"

"They're all tall, thin and elegant, right? And humans? Well, Dedede _is_ tall, but he's fat and likes to eat. And he's a giant penguin. But seems nice enough,"

"Despite what Kirby says?"

"It's only Kirby that he doesn't like. He's what Meta Knight calls an 'anti-hero',"

"I know what you mean," Red nodded.

_Some would regard me as an 'anti-hero'. _Mewtwo said thoughtfully, still drifting a couple of inches off the ground.

"How come?"

_I have not always been as… _he stopped to find the right word. _As calm as I am now. It took me a long time to realize that humans were not all bad. But I am fine now. As you can see._

"Even if you did make Pit plummet from the sky,"

_That was different._

"Suuuuure," Pit said. Then he said: "Ow. Oh yeah…duty calls. See you guys later, I guess…bye,"

"Bye Pit,"

"Pichu chu!" there was a flash as Pit was teleported back to Skyworld. He walked over to the Seer, and sighed.

X

The two giants stood in their usual positions at Spear Pillar, the moonlight glinting off their scales. There was a cheerful puff of smoke, and something small, round and pink appeared. It was Mew.

"Welcome, Mew. Did you discover anything about Her plans?" the second one asked.

"No Dialga, I did not," Mew replied. He had a small, childish voice with a slightly superior air; like he thought he was bigger than he actually was (he was probably one of the smallest legendaries). "But I did find Pichu! And he's really really fun!"

"'Fun' is not what we are looking for, Mew," the other one said (if the first one to speak was Dialga, then who do you think this one is? Use your brain cells). Mew drooped slightly in the air.

"I'm sorry. Oh wait! I did find out something!"

"Speak it,"

"Mewtwo's going to talk with Cresselia again, even though Cresselia was told not to,"

"Is she? Hmm," Palkia's eyes closed as he thought for a moment. "We shall have to deal with her at a later date. But I have another thing I wish to speak about. Rayquaza,"

"He has been disturbed. But that is not unusual," Dialga said.

"But since being disturbed he did not return. He has gone," Dialga shut his eyes, but he wasn't thinking like Palkia had done.

"He has gone. Just as you said. I cannot even feel him in this dimension,"

"Here you go," Mew said, transforming in mid air. A huge, snake-like Pokemon was in front of them. Namely, Rayquaza. Though it was actually Mew.

"That is not quite what we meant," Palkia shook his head as Mew morphed back.

"Aww,"

"Wait…be silent…" all three of them froze. "Something is wrong…"

"Like Giratina?" Mew suggested. The two space-time legendaries looked at him. "Oh,"

"Giratina, what do you want?" Palkia was half-way to a snarl in the way he said it. The centipede-like legendary was hovering slightly, in his Origin Forme, regarding them for a moment while he thought about what to do.

"I am not here to fight. Not yet," he said after said moment was finished. "Just to warn you. You will tell your mistresses to back off, before we do anything too…drastic. And I think that it is only fair to also mention that Darkrai has finally been sent to the Palace. So instead of wasting your time talking about Rayquaza, perhaps you should be trying to protect those 'heroes',"

"And why do you tell us this?" Dialga said.

"As I have already said. As a warning. This is the first attack. And next time we won't be so kind," a flickering dark fire seemed to envelop Giratina, and before either of the other dragon legendaries could stop him he had gone, either back to the Underworld or to his own dimension.

"That's not good, is it?" Mew said in a timid voice. He knew full well what was going on. He was a very simple Pokemon, but being simple does not make you stupid.

"Something is still wrong. I don't trust him," Palkia said. "Mew…go back to the Palace tomorrow in your Starly form. We are going to trust you to keep them safe,"

"If anything really bad happens can I get help?"

"Yes. That would be a wise idea. But we shall leave, now. You can go,"

"Thank you," Mew nodded his little head, and disappeared in a piff. Palkia looked to Dialga, who nodded. He knew what his accomplice was thinking. They stepped onto the dais again. Then they too disappeared, though in a considerably larger puff. Then there was nothing.

**So there you are. The two giants are revealed as Dialga and Palkia, their conflicts finally finished, though it was probably already obvious. So now we have Dialga, Palkia and Mew against Giratina, Darkrai and Rayquaza (or so it seems). Tune in in a couple of day's time or whenever, just review goddamnit, to keep up to date with the Palace's arrivals. And with that said, TTFN.**


	7. Ganondorf, or Pit's Day Off

**I'm soooooorrrryyyy. I have just discovered the joy of Scribblenaut sprite comics, but not to worry since I have decided that from now on I'm only going to do them at weekends and focus on this during the week. Superlific. Short chapter! The longest chapter so far has been Chapter Numero 3. Enjoy this one – not a lot happens, despite what I promised last time. OH WELL.**

"Roy! ROY!" Roy had previously been hacking a practise dummy to pieces, but looked up when he heard his name being called. It was Pit. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I've got the day off!"

"Really? Awesome!" Roy grinned, and so did Pit. "What shall we do? Switch Marth's shampoo for pink hair dye? Go on a motorcycle rampage across the desert?"

"For one thing, I like Marth, and for another thing, what's a mot…mete…that thing you said?" Roy rolled his eyes.

"Dude, never mind. We need to find something else to do. Is there anything to see in the desert?"

"There's a sorta underground cave thing but that's not much,"

"Underground cave? Count me in. Or have you already been there?"

"Oh, no, I've not been there before. Never had time…"

"Then what are we waiting for? I command you to teleport us there! Now!"

"Commanding the highest commander? You need to get your head out of the dirt. But then you need to get it back in, 'cause we're going now," before Roy could do or say anything, Pit had grabbed his arm, touched his halos and they had both disappeared. The Starly on the fence flew away.

X

Pit hadn't _actually_ teleported them to the cavern. He'd just wanted to trick Roy a little. He'd actually teleported them to the other side of the Palace, which was about as short a distance he could manage, but this time inside. He wanted to find someone else to come with them.

"Hey Toon, wanna come and explore a cavern with us?" Pit asked the short hero.

"Nah. Dedede wanted to show me some kind of thing he can do with food," Toon Link smiled. He got along well with Dedede, and no one was really sure why. Dedede quite liked Toon Link, and Toon Link quite liked Dedede.

"Oh. OK. C'mon Roy, let's go find the _other _Link!" Pit darted off.

"Waaaaaaiit up!" Roy ran after Pit. For someone who spent so much time in the air, Pit sure could run fast. This time they ran up the stairs (two at a time) to try to find Link. Generally they just looked for the sound of Navi's voice.

"Hey! Link! Navi!" Pit called as they ran. He had to come screeching to a halt to avoid colliding with Link himself.

"What's got your feathers in a twist, bird-boy?" Navi said from her perch on Link's shoulder.

"Pit and I are gonna go explore this cavern thing in the desert but we want someone else to come with us," Roy explained. "Toon already said no, so are you game?"

"A cavern in the desert. So long as it doesn't have the Great Fairy in it then heck yeah,"

"Great Fairy?"

"Technically my ruler, though she can't tell me what to do,"

"I don't think anyone can, Navi," Pit said truthfully. "So you're coming?" Link nodded enthusiastically, and presumably so did Navi, only you couldn't tell. "Yeah! I think that four's enough. Go get your swords or whatever," both Roy and Link touched their scabbards.

"Already got them. Let's go _now_!" Roy grinned. So Pit brought his hand down on his halos…then they were gone. Then there was nothing.

X

The light from Pit's halos, Navi's light and Link's lantern were enough to see by as they walked into the cavern.

"How far down does this thing go?" Navi asked, partly to herself. "And what exactly are we looking for?"

"Something to do," Roy, the only one not equipped with a light source, told her. "And so far we've found it, right?"

"Yeah," Pit turned back and looked at them, his laurel catching the light as he did so. Where he had found a golden laurel, no one was quite sure. But he was pretty attatched to it. "Wow, this place is h -" he suddenly gave a yelp…and disappeared. Roy came to a halt and looked at the hole.

"That was cl – glak!" he felt himself falling. Link had walked into him. "LINK!" he yelled. Link had fallen too, and right now they both braced themselves for the ground. His knees buckled as he hit the ground, but besides that not much else. Link hadn't been so prepared, but as both a Hylian and as Link, he pretty much leapt to his feet in less than a second. Navi, of course, hadn't felt anything.

"Out of all the places I expected to see you, it wasn't here," a deep voice rumbled. Link unsheathed his sword so fast that if you blinked you would've missed it. "I wouldn't do that yet, Link," the darkness seemed to…clear, as odd as it sounds. They all looked up. Then Roy unsheathed his sword.

"Let Pit go!" he snarled. If Pit had been concious, he probably would've been in the most unbearable pain, since Ganondorf was holding him by the wings.

"What are you doing in my lair?" Ganon asked.

"We were just exploring, bub. Sheesh!" unsurprisingly, that was Navi. "We didn't know you were here. Trust me, if we did, you would've been Ganon kebab a loooong time ago. So what are _you_ doing here? You haven't tried to take over the world or whatever for ages. Not that I'm complaining or anything,"

"I found myself here a short while ago. This cavern was dark enough, and I like the desert,"

"You…" Navi trailed off. "Pit said that only heroes were being plonked in the middle of the desert. How come _you're_ here?"

"At the moment I don't care. Let Pit go and I might not roast you," Roy hissed. Flames from his sword lit up the cavern. Ganondorf dropped Pit, where he landed on the floor in a small white crumple.

"Satisfied? Now tell _me_ why we are here. In the desert,"

"Why should we tell you?" Navi said, with an air of superiority that was probably too big for her.

"At the moment it's the only thing keeping you alive,"

"Yeah, well, same here. Wake your sword threateningly, Link," Link gave her a funny look. "Fine. Be that way. I think Pit knows the most about what's going on, so now look what you've done,"

"It's OK…I'm awake," they looked down, where Pit was trying to stand up. Roy offered him a hand.

"Tell the dude why he's here, Pit," Navi commanded.

"Well, um…" there was a short silence. "Master Hand's power is brining heroes into this desert, and I'm supposed to find them and bring them to stay in the Palace. But from what I know, you're one of the bad guys…"

"Yeah, but if you think about it, so is Dedede," Roy said thoughtfully. "And Mewtwo. And sometimes Meta Knight,"

"I guess, but they're different…"

"In what way?" Ganon asked.

"I…don't really know. But considering that the city's most powerful ruler is Zelda I don't know if I should take you there or not…" Ganondorf seemed to think about this carefully.

"Then I will call a truce," three (probably four, only you couldn't see) jaws dropped at the same time.

"What?" Navi spluttered.

"I like the idea of staying in a Palace, and besides, I would like to see if I can get rid of this entity that is always visiting me,"

"Entity?" Pit frowned.

"He calls himself Darkrai," the air suddenly got very heavy, and very thick.

"But you always declined?"

"I work for no one,"

"Good…" then, without warning, Pit slammed his hand down on his halos. There was a bright flash, illuminating the whole cave. Then there was nothing.

X

The second Zelda had seen Ganondorf and Pit's somewhat scared face she had explained vaguely what was happening, as usual, and then taken the huge Gerudo straight to Master Hand. She had also taken Marth, Peach…and Pit, who hadn't seen either of the Hands yet. As usual, Master Hand faded into existence.

"Greetings, Master Hand," Zelda said, bowing her head.

"Greetings," he replied, but to all of them. "I see you have found Ganondorf,"

"Yes. Pit…" she indicated to the Angel, who was looking up at Master Hand in awe. "…found him, despite it being his day off, and after a discussion with Ganon he found out that Darkrai had been trying to persuade him to join their side. But he declined,"

"Darkrai...of course. It makes sense…"

"It does?" that was Pit, who instantly realised that was a stupid thing to say.

"Yes, Captain, it does. I presume you came to me to see if we can trust him?" he turned back to Zelda, who nodded.

"There has been more than one occasion where he had captured me and taken over Hyrule. And while that hasn't happened for a while, Link, Navi and I still don't know if we can trust Hyrule's bane," Master Hand was silent for a while, though rather more as if he was waiting for something than thinking, or doing magic or whatever it was.

_You can trust him. But only this once_. Mewtwo flickered in.

"Mewtwo. I was waiting for you,"

_I know you were. _he said, with a slightly smug look on his face. _And I know we can trust him. Just this time. _Zelda turned to Ganondorf, who didn't say anything.

"Very well. Thank you," she said to Master Hand.

"Sorry for disturbing you," said Marth. "We shall be leaving now," he turned, and along with Peach, Zelda and Ganondorf, left. Mewtwo flickered away, but Master Hand made Pit stay.

"Yes, Master Hand?" Pit looked up at him.

"Paluntena wishes to speak with you. About what, it is not in my duty to know,"

"Oh…now?"

"Yes,"

"OK…thank you," before he had the chance to teleport himself, Master Hand had done it for him. Then he faded from existence. Then there was nothing.

X

It was evening. And far away from Spear Pillar, far away from the Palace, Mewtwo waited. Cresselia arrived.

"Mewtwo? Something worries you," she said softly.

"Darkrai has appeared," he told her. "They no longer wait,"

"Mew told me that Giratina appeared when he was conversing with Dialga and Palkia,"

"What happened?"

"Very little, he said. He said that Giratina was just warning them. Threatening them. Maybe to make them afraid,"

"Dialga and Palkia are not, I believe, afraid of the dark,"

"No. But they fear for you and the others in the Palace, as do I. I had an idea, but I wish to know what you thought of it before I shared it with Dialga and Palkia," Mewtwo waited expectantly. "If we could awake Jirachi, perhaps she would lend us her powers,"

"Would you wish the darkness away? I am not sure if that would be a good idea. You, Mew, the Lake Guardians and the dragons, you outnumber them,"

"Not with the Underworld's minions too. Pit encountered some of those monsters in the desert. I think…I think that She was testing him. She's lost to him once and she will not stand for losing to him again,"

"With him on our side I must admit I do feel slightly safer,"

"As do the others, I am sure. My mistress has confidence in him, so I do too. Has Mew been keeping himself…low-profile?"

"He has been doing well. The dragons will be pleased with his work. I must say I enjoy his company,"

"It is hard not to. But I fear of being discovered, so I must leave you. Be careful, Mewtwo," Mewtwo didn't say anything as Cresselia disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then he flickered for a moment, and teleported back to the mansion. Then there was nothing.

**News: I can't do Ganondorf's personality…once again, OH WELL. Navi always struck me as a not much of a royalist. She (my version, at least) doesn't exactly like to do as she's told. And I'm going to try hard to get HEY LISTEN joke in the next chapter. Not sure what's gonna happen in that one. THIS IS ALL IMPROV. And remember the golden rule: Reviews = updates! Tell all your friends!**


	8. Young Link and Darkrai

**WE'RE BACK, BABY. I was desperately trying to save this for Christmas Day and let this be my big surprise for you BUT I COULDN'T WAIT. So you can have your Christmas present early. On another note I have edited most of the chapters so they're better and free of any typos, especially chapter one. I'm trying not to be a noob! Enjoy teh story, and sorry for the hiatus!**

Paluntena was a Goddess who was not to be crossed. Angel Land had the biggest army out of any of the other countries in Skyworld. Which was, of course, run by Pit, whom she was confronted with now.

"You wished to speak to me, Paluntena?" Pit bowed.

"I want to congratulate you on your hard work, even when it's your day off," Pit looked down in an attempt to cover the proud smile which had come onto his face. "But…I haven't been entirely honest with you. There is more of a reason I let Master Hand take you to run his errands than simply out of my own kindness."

"I thought so…not that you aren't a kind person or anything, but…yeah. I didn't want to ask…"

"No need to. Mew?"

"Mew?" the little voice piped.

"This is my friend, Pit."

"Mew! Mew mew!" Mew bounced on Pit's head before whizzing in a circle.

"Huh?" Pit frowned, looking at the baby-pink creature.

"He was in disguise as a Starly. I myself did not personally send him to keep a guard over the castle but two…ah, friends of mine did. I do not doubt your abilities in the least, Captain, but what you might come up against…they're strong, Pit, very strong. Master Hand is bringing the heroes to the desert to help,"

"Help?"

"Help to protect it. Don't tell anyone else yet, we don't want them to panic. I will let Master Hand decide if he wishes you to know any more…you have duties to fulfill, and I shall not keep you from them any longer. Mew, you go with him. Keep yourself hidden unless…they say otherwise. Do you understand?"

"Mew!" he did a happy twirl before settling on Pit's wing, and promptly falling off as it twitched from underneath him.

"Work hard, Captain," Paluntena splayed her hand, and there was a flash. Then there was nothing.

Instead of being at the Palace as expected, Pit and his new assistant Mew found themselves in the middle of the desert. They were aware of something glaring at them. Pit slowly turned around.

"Don't move!" the stocky figure said. He was aiming a loaded bow directly at them. Pit opened his mouth to speak but shut it again. He had no idea what to say. Before he said almost exactly the wrong thing.

"There are _three_ Links?"

"Demon!" Young Link hissed. Pit threw up his hands.

"Don't call me that! Sheesh! What do I look like? Angelic wings and laurels do _not_ equal demons,"

"Who sent you?"

"Paluntena. Goddess of Light. You _are_ called Link, right? I'm right, aren't I?" Young Link just glared. "I'm not a demon! I'm here to help you!" the bow was lowered slightly. "I'm Captain Pit. They call me the Kid Icarus. I think I need to take you to the city…"

"Prove yourself!" man, what does it _take_…

"Umm…how?" Young Link's eyes went blank. He hadn't thought that far. So he pulled the bowstring back more. The Links sure were different from each other… "Prove to me that you're Link first," Young Link lowered the bow and displayed the back of his left hand. Definitely the Triforce. Pit nodded.

"I thought so…well, demons can't fly. Like thisssss…!" he leapt into the air and did a quickly twirl, hovering above Young Link. "Enough proof? I got these too," he landed back on the ground and displayed the light bangles. "Halos," Young Link reached out and touched them. They chinked slightly as they bashed together.

"And that?" he indicated to Mew.

"This is…uh, Mew. He's my new friend. He's helping. Somehow…look, just follow me," before Young Link had any other chance to protest Pit grabbed the sleeve of his tunic and teleported the three of them away, to the city.

It had taken a lot of persuading to get the ever-stubborn Young Link to follow him through the portal to the Palace, so in the end he just pushed him in. It was, perhaps, sheer luck that Link, Navi, Fox and Snake all happened to be standing (or hovering, depending on who or what you were) there. Young Link glared at Pit furiously.

"You-" he started, but got cut off as a fairy fluttered over.

"Link! Like…other Link! Mini Link!"

"Navi?"

"It's you! Wow…so many Links. Chain linking…heheh," Young Link smiled as Navi dropped into his cupped hands. He looked at her for a moment, before looking over his shoulder at Pit.

"You're not a demon,"

"I spent about ten minutes trying to persuade you of that. Really!" he threw his hands up in frustration, before sighing.

"What? There are more of them?" Snake pulled a face. "Wasn't two enough?"

"Don't diss little Link!" Navi snapped.

"I'm not little. I'm Link," Young Link scowled, before looking at the rather taller, handsomer Link who was looking at him with a faint expression of fondness. "Are you…is this the future?"

"Yep. And, Pit…what the hell is that pink thing?"

"Mew!" Mew chirped happily, doing a little twirl.

"Yeah, this is Mew. Paluntena sent him to help me," Pit let the miniature legendary settle on his head. "I hope Pichu doesn't get jealous,"

"Aren't you meant to take the new guys to the royals?" Fox asked. Pit nodded, slowly.

"Yeah. We might have to call you something other than Link or else everyone'll get confused…you're not little so what about Young Link?"

"Call him Old Link," Young Link nodded his head in the direction of Link, who shook his head.

"We've already decided he's Link. Young Link, follow me. You need to meet Princess Zelda,"

"Zelda?"

"Oh…yeah, this era's Zelda. She'll recognize you, I'm sure. Come on, up here!" he flew up the stairs, with Young Link in tow. The swordsboy paused at the stairs and called to Navi.

"Come on, Navi!"

"Godammit, there are too many Links for me to bug…see you later, big Link. Wait for meeee…!" a trail of sparkles was left in her wake as she flew off after the two boys.

And so the day had dragged on. And so day turned to night. Mew rested on his perch of Pit's head, same as Pichu. It seemed that the little mouse didn't mind at all that Pit had a new friend, so long as they could still play together. Pikachu would play with him anyway. As Pit made his way up the stairs, Mew suddenly squeaked.

"Mew! Mew mew mew!"

"Mew? What's the matter?" Pit frowned as Mew lifted off and hovered around.

"Mew!" the baby-blue eyes narrowed. His tail flicked anxiously. To Pit's surprise, he started making a growling kind of noise. Pit took out his bow. Something behind him went whoosh. He whipped around but there was nothing there. He held his bow up to the halos and used it to reflect the light around, like a torch. It passed something solid and black, but when he whirled back to look again it had gone. Mew growled again, and started to morph. He settled on the ground as a Lucario, amber eyes still narrowed. He held his palm out in front of him.

_Mister Captain, I think Darkrai's here! _his voice piped in Pit's head.

"Darkrai? Darkrai! Come out!" Mew made an Aura Sphere and held it between his paws. He barked something into the darkness.

_He's here, Mister Captain. I know he is!_

"I believe you…Darkrai!" he shouted again.

_Should I call Cresselia, Mister Captain?_

"You know Cresselia?" Mew didn't get the chance to reply as there was a furious roaring noise and a kathunk. It was Mewtwo. He fired another Shadow Orb at the darkness, which growled. Pit loaded and arrow and fired at the place which Mewtwo had hit as Mew shifted back. Darkrai roared again, and finally became visible as the light delved into his chest. The ghostly creature looked at them both, debating whether to fight or flee. Mewtwo spoke in Pokemon, with Mew adding a few 'mew!'s of agreement in as they spoke to Darkrai (or threatened).

"Mewtwo…?" Pit hazarded. Mewtwo didn't turn around, but kept his 'paw' pointing at Darkrai.

_Pit. Fire. _he said. Pit loaded an arrow quickly, and while it shot in the right direction Darkrai lunged sideways. The Ghost-type flung a tendril of shadows at Pit and hit him full in the face. Mew squeaked in alarm, but Mewtwo continued the fight with a Shadow Orb, which Darkrai avoided. As he was about to sent more darkness at Pit, a loud wailing sound announced the arrival of another being. A curve of light boomeranged around Pit, fending off the darkness. Cresselia had arrived.

**DUN DUN DUNNN. It took me a while to decide whether to leave you on a cliffhanger like that or not, but heck, I haven't had enough cliffhangers in this story. Haven't had nearly enough fight scenes either. And also, I've decided I really like Young Link's character…I haven't written many like him before, all hostile etc etc, so you'll probably see more of him in the future. There won't be any updates 'til after Christmas. See you then!**


	9. Cresselia and Yoshi Arrive

**First thing: If you haven't read about Darkrai attacking, go back a chapter. If you have, never mind.  
Sorry to leave everyone on a cliffhanger for so long. I got wrapped up in my new fic, How To Lift a Curse, which is this fic's aunt, I would say. If you like this one then you'll probably like H2LC. OC-centric but definitely **_**not **_**clichéd! Anyway, enough shameless self-advertisement. TA DA.**

Cresselia shrieked again, while Darkrai maneuvered backwards into the shadows, out of Cresselia's light. She rushed forwards as though she were about to peck him but he drifted around her, only to get a blade to the back, and was sent flying forwards again. A voice appeared in Pit's mind.

_Icarus, I must deal with Darkrai alone. Take your friends and leave!_

"Cresselia? I mean, no, I'm supposed to protect this place too!" he spun his bow around in a short circle. He wasn't sure if he should really be disobeying a legendary, but he was and he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He felt Cresselia's blank gaze follow him as he flapped into the air alongside Mew, firing an arrow as Mewtwo dodged another blow. Cresselia raised her pink wings and screamed again. Only this time it wasn't a scream. It was a cry, a plea, a song. There was another flash. A curve of light appeared again, this time shining brightly. Darkrai hissed for a moment, before Cresselia finally flapped her wings and launched into Lunar Dance. Pit didn't know exactly what happened since it was so bright, but he did know that by the time he could see again, Darkrai had gone, and there was an unconscious Cresselia on the floor. Mew was sitting on the floor by her, patting her side with his little paws, Mewtwo on the other side, near her head. Pit ran over.

"What happened?" he asked, kneeling down.

_Lunar Dance is an incredibly powerful move. Usually it restores the health of anyone in the surrounding area, though this time it vanquished Darkrai. For now. _Mewtwo told him. Pit laid a hand on Cresselia's side. She was feathery but not feathery like a bird. It was hard to explain. It was like her whole body was made of clouds. Not the wet kind of cloud either, the fluffy kind that they got in Angel Land on sunny days. He stroked her gently.

"And that kind of power is too much?"

_Indeed._

"When will she wake up?"

"Perhaps I can help," the three of them all turned and looked at Zelda. "I'm not sure what happened…but I can try and help heal her," she sat down next to Pit and placed her hands on Cresselia's side. Her Triforce mark glowed. "Tell me what happened,"

"I was about to go back to Skyworld with Mew when he saw Darkrai. As I was about to attack Mewtwo came in, and then Cresselia arrived, cast her Lunar Dance thing and passed out,"

"She's a very beautiful creature. What happened to Darkrai?"

"I think Cresselia scared him off,"  
_But he is not dead_.

"Yeah. He's not dead,"

_It wouldn't be as easy as that._

"What are you doing wandering around anyway, Princess?"

"I felt that something was wrong. This may not be Hyrule but it is still my land. Ah, there…" she stood up and stepped back, Pit and Mewtwo doing the same, as Cresselia shook her head and floated back up. She looked at them both.

_My thanks. _she said. _I am sorry I could not be here sooner but… _she paused for a moment. _I must leave now. We will meet again, Icarus. Farewell. _there was a large poof of smoke and she was gone. They stood in silence for a moment. Pit didn't even notice the flicker of purple as Mewtwo vanished. He'd felt something when Darkrai had fled. The sharp edge of evil. And an evil he recognized. He knew Medusa would be back someday. She was a Goddess. You can't kill a Goddess, no matter how many Sacred Treasures you wield. He just didn't know it would be so soon.

"Mew, we're going now. We need to inform Paluntena on what happened," he said, breaking the silence. Mew drifted over and settled on his head. "Bye Zelda. See you tomorrow,"

"Goodbye Pit," she stood there for a moment after the teleportation flash had died down. She'd had an idea…

Pit had a rather rude but necessary awakening the following morning. There was someone hammering at the door to his room.

"Captain! Captain!"

"Whaaaat? Go away," he pulled the covers over his head.

"Captain, its 10am!"

"WHAAAT?" the duvet was thrown back instantly. He blinked at the clock. "Sweet Paluntena! Oh, yeah, you're dismissed," he waited until the footsteps had faded away, and then stuck his head under the bed. He knew his toga was around here somewhere…

Other people, or creatures, had an equally as untasteful awakening. The eyes of the creature opened as it felt the sun on its back. It looked around sleepily, and then drew itself upright.

"?" it said, somehow. It was very hot here and very rocky. It might not be the smartest creature ever, but it knew that there were no deserts where it came from. Maybe it was in the Mushroom Kingdom, they had a huge desert there. But no…there weren't any Pokeys wiggling across the horizon. In fact, there wasn't anything on the horizon but heatlines. Its brow furrowed. There wasn't anything here at all. Then, as the thought of _no food_ hit it, it exclaimed:

"YOSHI!"

On the other hand, there were some people that were used to the desert, and also didn't sleep. Such a person was the Gerudo King Ganondorf, pummeling a training dummy to little wooden pieces.

"I feel that you should show at least a little mercy on the training apparatus," a deep and exotic voice said. Ganondorf turned around. There wasn't anyone there. Then he looked down.

"I show no mercy," he said to the short, round thing. "Who are you?"

"My name is Meta Knight. I presume you must be Ganondorf," Ganon nodded. "Bearer of the Triforce of Power, I believe,"

"Yes," they fell silent while Ganon decapitated another mannequin with a blazing fist of purple fire. Neither of the two were much for small talk and neither of them said much to begin with. As he attacked a third dummy, Meta Knight spoke again.

"I have rarely seen people attack with such viciousness in training alone,"

"It helps to picture the faces of your enemies,"

"Such as whom?"

"There is one standing over there," his dark eyes darted to a short green figure in the doorway. Young Link gave a squeak of fright and quickly disappeared. "One Link was one enough. Three is...unacceptable,"

"They are all so different,"

"And all as annoying,"

"Thankfully there is only one Navi,"

"Oh yes," limbs of wood went flying. "I remember when fairies healed first and asked questions later,"

"I can remember when Dreamland wasn't ruled by a buffoon,"

"That would be King Dedede, correct?"

"Indeed. It was previously a peaceful place…"

"You think you can go around and destroy the world with just a punch?" a slow and heavy drawl echoed from the doorway. There was a 'pok' noise, and a dummy exploded into several fine pieces, chinking off of Meta Knight's mask and Ganon's armour. Snake moved out of the shadows, his sneaking suit deactivating. "I remember what it was like before I ended up in a desert,"

"Deserts can be quite hospitable if you know what it is you're doing," said Ganon.

"Deserts are practically luxury compared to what I've been through,"

"Really? Then perhaps you remember when…"

Pit tilted his wings and started to drop. Mew had spotted the green thing he was meant to be tracking. That was another reason why the little pink blob Pokemon was useful. If only he'd been around when he was meant to be finding Mewtwo. It could've ended in a lot less pain. When he was a couple of metres from the ground he folded his wings up and dropped. The new hero was a dinosaurish kind of thing, and if Mew hadn't been there Pit probably would've ended up as said dinosaur's dinner. It had that hungry kind of look in its eyes which Pit had seen in Kirby's and Dedede's before they inhaled a whole buffet or whatever.

"Hey there," he patted the dinosaur's nose. "You're…Yoshi, right?"

"Yosh!" Yoshi nodded. "Yoshi! Yo shi shi!" There was a weak flash as Mew transformed into a Lucario again.

_He says hi! And…that he's hungry. You got any food, Mister Captain?_

"Um, yeah," Pit stuck a hand into his hammerspace pockets and found a simple red apple, which Yoshi licked straight out of his hand.

"Mmm," he smacked his lips.

"Yoshi, if you want more food all you need to do is follow me,"

"Yoshi! Yosh!"

_He says that he wants you to ride him. _Mew translated. Pit's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yosh!"

"Cool!" Pit had ridden a variety of strange creatures. Hippogriffs, manticores, Pegasi, even a dragon, but he hadn't ridden a Yoshi, which was quite comfortable in comparison to some. And considering the length of the creature's legs, Yoshi could go pretty fast. Mew spent most of the journey in his usual form, sitting on Pit's head. Yoshi reacted to Pit's movements too, allowing Pit to steer him in the direction of the city. Ike had once asked the Angel how he always knew where he was when he was in the desert. Pit didn't really know. Like a homing pigeon, he just knew. As for the question of why some people, such as Snake and Kirby, could find their way here while others couldn't. No one knew the answer to that one. Zelda had shared a suspicion that it might be the doing of Master Hand's counterpart, though when Pit had badgered her for more answers he hadn't gotten them.

Speaking of which…Master Hand's counterpart. The left hand. Crazy Hand. He was, most of the time, relatively harmless. But whatever Master Hand created, Crazy Hand put a spin on. If Master Hand created a horse, Crazy Hand would give it wings and make it into a Pegasus. If Master Hand created a rose, Crazy Hand would make its petals multi-coloured, simply to make the world more interesting. He was seen even less than Master Hand was. Even Zelda, who knew the most out of any of the Smashers, knew very little about the Hand of Chaos. But she did know that where Master Hand had been made by the Goddess of Unity, a supposedly beautiful and benevolent immortal, Crazy Hand had been made by the Goddess' nemesis, the God of Chaos and evil. Unity had won, in the end…but there had been no rules made saying that it would stay that way, and that Crazy Hand would only be just a crazy hand. That he wouldn't remember when he was the pawn of the God of Chaos, and that he wouldn't remember when he was evil and there was much more _fun _in the world…

**Don't expect me to update nearly as frequently as I did before. I'll update when I get round to wanting to write this. I'm focusing on my own book, and on H2LC (and also a fic for a contest, nvm). I want to make it very clear that I'm not giving up! I'm just…slowing down. See you when I see you (and hopefully see you in a review *cough*)**


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